Welcome to the 2009 General Assembly Update Newsletter, and thank you for your continued interest in my activities in Annapolis as your State Delegate. I would like to share the following Session Update with you.

With a national economic crisis further slowing revenues at the federal, state and local levels, 2009 and 2010 are extremely lean years for Maryland. We are currently facing a $2 billion FY10 state budget deficit.

With that backdrop, last month, the Governor proposed a painfully tight budget of $14.4 billion. This is the first negative growth rate budget ever proposed in the state of Maryland. As our economic situation changes and the details of the federal stimulus package become clear, we will continue to work with the Governor to make the necessary changes to this budget. It is currently 1.3% less than the FY09 budget and is $1.5 billion less than required to maintain the current baseline services. In addition, the state still faces a nearly $400 million budget shortfall for the remainder of the FY09 budget year.
 
The outlook is grim and we begin the 2010 budgeting process with tough choices to make.  While there are sure to be changes to the budget, the Governor's overall approach to our fiscal crisis continues to focus on preserving our priorities: education, healthcare, and public safety, while making the tough decisions necessary to balance our budget.  In fact, nearly 66% of our state budget is mandated funding for these priorities.

This leaves the Governor and Legislature with a narrow set of options to balance the budget. Therefore, everything must be on the table. Shared sacrifice will be crucial to crafting a budget that will make us all proud.

I will continue to provide information to you using this newsletter and my continually updated web site www.galenclagett.com. I hope you will visit the site and bookmark it in your browser for easy retrieval.