<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
And they have a lot of ideas about what to do with it.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Either way, there is a lot of money.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross 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,\u201d Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Adrian Jones says she sees the extra money as an opportunity to modernize neglected state facilities, parks, bridges, schools and IT systems.<\/p>\n
She predicted they would focus “on making important upgrades rather than creating new long-term spending priorities.”<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Franchot, who can’t vote on any of this, offered his own thoughts in an opinion piece recently published in the Baltimore Sun.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Of course, there are lawmakers who have other ideas.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n