Monday, October 20, 2008
Maryland’s Budget Deficit - Bad to Worse
Warren Deschenaux, the General Assembly’s top fiscal advisor, told legislative leaders that the recent economic downturn would leave the current state FY 2009 budget $513 million in the red and push the projected FY 2010 budget gap to $1.3 billion. He called on legislative leaders to be prepared for hard decisions, including reducing aid to local governments and education, revising employee benefits and restraining recent health care and environmental initiatives. See his presentation here (pdf).
In response to the state’s growing budget gap, the Board of Public Works yesterday approved a $297 million reduction in FY 2009 state general fund spending, with additional fund transfers dependent on legislative approval. More budget reductions are likely before January. See the list of approved budget reductions here (pdf).
Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
