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Federal Stimulus Funds Flowing to Maryland
ARRA and Health Care:
Governor O'Malley, Senator Cardin, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John M. Colmers, and other state and local healthcare leaders, have highlighted the nearly $1.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to protect Maryland's healthcare safety net.
These funds will help fortify Maryland's expanded health care program, support community clinics, address the needs of underserved children and protect tens of thousands of healthcare jobs. Without these funds provided by our health care champions in Congress and the White House, over 50,000 people could lose the coverage they now have under our Medicaid program. Maryland's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act website can be found at www.recovery.maryland.gov. _____
ARRA and Transportation:
The Maryland Department of Transportation announced the second phase of Maryland transportation projects to be funded under President Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Statewide road and bridge projects will receive an additional $137 million.
Local transit and road priorities received additional funding in Phase II with a total of $43 million now available to support local transit systems.
$62 million is being made available to local jurisdictions for local transportation priorities and will be distributed among all 23 counties. The specific amount will be determined by a formula based on the number of vehicle registrations and the number of lane miles in a particular county.
Phase II investments include a dramatic increase in funding for Locally Operated Transit Systems around the state. A total of $43 million will be distributed to these smaller transit systems, run by counties or municipalities. Funds can used to purchase replacement buses or improve transit facilities.
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Greetings!
Welcome to our latest 2009 General Assembly Weekly Update Newsletter, and thank you for your continued interest in my activities in Annapolis as your State Delegate.
This week's update deals with the budget. In the face of a continuingly weak economy, the House Appropriations Committee voted late last Friday to approve a $13.9 billion FY10 General Fund budget. The FY09 and FY10 state budgets include $1.7 billion in federal stimulus funds and although the revenues are projected to decline 2.3%, the influx of federal funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increases the budget only 2%.
The budget is smaller than the FY07 budget and, along with the supplemental budget submitted by the Administration on Monday, ends with a balance of $51.2 million above the $650 million Rainy Day Fund. This represents a balanced budget without raising any taxes or fees. Along with the cuts to the FY09 budget, Appropriations made $825 million in spending reductions.
As Chairman of the Public Safety and Administration subcommittee within the Appropriations Committee, I have had the honor of being a part of the leadership team that has crafted this balanced budget for the State of Maryland.
We've provided an extensive accounting below of just where these cuts will impact the most and where we were able to avoid making cuts or shifting costs. We hope you find this update helpful and we'll continue to keep you informed. As always, please feel free to contact me directly with your questions, ideas, and concerns. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Delegate Galen Clagett, District 3A
Frederick County, Maryland
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Balancing the Budget 
The House took a series of actions to balance the budget including reductions to nearly every agency, fund transfers, bonding of short term obligations and converting fund balances to the general fund. As amended, HB 101 - the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, contains $1.2B in budgetary actions.
Significant reductions were made to state government. Appropriations cut 116 vacant positions in addition to the 1,000 vacant positions that were eliminated by the Governor's original proposal. This is on top of the $30M saved by furloughing state employees for 2-5 days this year. The budget includes $524M in General Fund cuts to nearly every state agency including:
- $30M - University System Fund Balance
- $25M - Sellinger Funding to Private Colleges
- $25M - Judiciary
- $10M - Deferred Compensation for state workers
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Local Impact 
The Tough Cuts:
The March budget revenue estimates and write downs forced House Appropriations to make tough cuts in aid to local governments to balance the budget. As a result, roughly 20% of the actions affected local aid. These cuts to local aid were fair, equitable and made in consultation with local officials and the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO). Actions that affect localities include:
- Reducing local highway user revenues by $102M a year, as proposed by MACO
- Transferring the $367M Local Income Tax Reserve Fund
- Capping the disparity grant at $121M
- Reallocating $60M of local tax revenue based on distribution of wealth and taxing effort
- Requiring counties to repay $31M in overpayments in school funding
- Reducing the state's portion of non-public placement costs from 80% to 70%
The Continued Investments:
The House Appropriations Committee continued  investments in K-12 education by fully funding GCEI in 2010 and 2011, funding the 22% growth of teacher pensions, funding the supplemental grant with a 1% increase and avoiding cuts to the disparity grants. Education aid will be over $5.5B, an increase of $129M.
The House continues to invest in higher education with a 3.1% increase in funding for community colleges and maintaining the tuition freeze at four year public universities. This is particularly important as rising unemployment in Maryland continues to drive workers to community colleges for training and adult education.
House Appropriations also avoided cuts to law  enforcement by fully funding local police aid at $66M. Maryland is one of only seven states to fund aid to local police. The additional Byrne Grant funds that the stimulus package makes available to Maryland's local police will ensure that our officers have the tools needed to maintain public safety.
Though lean, the House proposal:
- Avoids layoffs of state employees
- Avoids salary reductions of state employees
- Funds K-12 education
- Continues to fund Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Bay Restoration Funds for enhanced nutrient removal from the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries total $130M
- Maintains 5% of the general fund in Rainy Day Account
- Continues Open Space purchases to preserve Chesapeake Bay and critical areas
- Avoids shifting costs to localities for local property tax assessment and law clerks
- Avoids reductions of tax credits for homeowners and renters
- Increases Medicaid funding over $230M without any reduction to services or eligibility
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Send your questions, feedback
and ideas directly to Delegate Clagett at:
Talk to Galen@yahoo.com
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