Maryland lawmakers returned to Annapolis on Wednesday facing a number of difficult issues, from support for police reform laws they passed last year to a move to legalize recreational marijuana. There is another element: a huge surplus.
And they have a lot of ideas about what to do with it.
They also have conflicting ideas about the size of the surplus. Senate President Bill Ferguson says the amount is $4.6 billion, but roughly two-thirds of that is a one-time influx of federal funds. State Comptroller Peter Franchot says it’s $6 billion. And that doesn’t count any federal stimulus that hasn’t been spent.
Either way, there is a lot of money.
Ferguson says lawmakers should be very thoughtful in targeting one-off expenses because “a lot of it is a one-time surplus that we don’t want to use for ongoing costs or ongoing revenue reductions, because it would set us up a huge slope down the line.”
He suggests, for example, some infrastructure projects and cybersecurity enhancements to avoid breaches like the one that recently crippled the Maryland Department of Health at the start of the omicron boom.
“Across the state government there are vulnerabilities that are going to take investments and they are one-off investments in systems and equipment, so I think that would be a significant spending area as well,” Ferguson said.
House Speaker Adrian Jones says she sees the extra money as an opportunity to modernize neglected state facilities, parks, bridges, schools and IT systems.
She predicted they would focus “on making important upgrades rather than creating new long-term spending priorities.”
“So we just want to be able to process things that we can fix and realize you know, and not be late for five or 10 years.”
Franchot, who can’t vote on any of this, offered his own thoughts in an opinion piece recently published in the Baltimore Sun.
Use half of it to replenish the state’s Rainy-Day fund, he wrote, issue support payments to low-income Maryland residents, help small businesses and minorities hit by the pandemic and provide relief to child care operators.
Of course, there are lawmakers who have other ideas.
Dale Jenelle Wilkins, a Montgomery County Democrat, describes herself as a huge advocate of housing. She is introducing a bill to pump tens of millions of dollars into an affordable housing program.
“We’re seeing huge costs rise in a lot of different ways, in our state and across the country because of the effects of COVID,” she said. “And so I would really like to see this money for affordable housing to continue to support rent assistance as well.”
Senator Adi Eckhart, an East Coast Republican, wondered if there would be a clash between those who would make up the state government and others who wanted to provide direct relief. She said lawmakers should be “slow and steady.”
“My rule of thumb is to give some directly in one-off initiatives,” she said. “If we can provide ongoing tax breaks for our retirees, that would be great.”
In response to a question about the surplus at a news conference Monday, Governor Larry Hogan said he could talk about it, but would ruin the surprise announcements he plans next week.