Legum’s New Line

Maryland delays planned budget cuts, anticipating more than $3 billion in federal stimulus. The Governor’s proposed budget assumed just $350 million from Washington. [Daily Record]

Maryland officials also hope to use federal stimulus to repair the state’s aging water and sewer infrastructure. [WJZ]

The Examiner breaks down what Maryland could get from the stimulus bill. [Baltimore Examiner]

Thomas Schaller convinces O’Malley to grade his first two years. O’Malley gives himself mostly As and Bs, with a C- for communication. [Baltimore Sun]

Hyattsville man pleads guilty to “plotting to transport at least one hundred women to Maryland to work as prostitutes.” [WBAL]

O’Malley can’t stand The Wire. [Baltimore Sun]

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Agricultural runoff is the single largest sources of nutrient pollution in the Bay. Much of the agricultural nutrient pollution comes chicken excrement that runs into the Bay from large poultry farms on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Currently, Maryland only has voluntary and ineffective regulations to limit agricultural nutrient pollution.

That was supposed to change last Wednesday. The Maryland Department of Environment has issued regulations that would have required Maryland’s largest poultry farmers – those with 125,000 or more birds – would have been required to certify they were talking the necessary steps to ensure animal waste does not get into the Bay. Under the regulations, “Farms would have had to pay an annual fee of up to $1,200, submit reports and be subject to state inspection.”

But now, the regulations are on hold because they’ve been legally challenged by a chicken farmer who “argues that the state’s requirements are ‘unscientific’ and will hurt his business.” (The regulations are also being challenged by an environmental group who claims the regulations are not strict enough.) The regulations cannot become final until the legal challenges are resolved.

Dr. Howard Ernst talks about the difficulty of implementing regulations and laws that reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay in his excellent and prescient 2003 book, Chesapeake Bay Blues. One of Dr. Ernst’s main points is that, although it’s clear we need to reduce nutrient pollution to clean up the bay, interest groups find ways to create barriers to action. That’s a big reason why, 25 years after the effort to save the bay started, the Chesapeake Bay is as polluted as ever.

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This morning, Obama will reverse a Bush administration policy on state auto emissions regulations, clearing the way for Maryland and other states to implement tougher standards. [Baltimore Sun]

O’Malley wants to extend unemployment insurance to workers seeking part-time jobs. [Daily Record]

Head of the Maryland Department of the Environment, Robert Summers, advocates increasing the state’s “flush tax” from $2.50 to $3.50 per month. Summers says that without the increase there won’t be enough revenue to fund upgrades sewage treatment plants. The upgrades are needed to reduce the flow of nitrogen into the Chesapeake Bay. [ABC 7]

Over the weekend, 11,000 people plunged into the frigid Chesapeake Bay. The event, sponsored by the Maryland State Police, raised $2.5 million for Special Olympics Maryland. [The Capital]

Sheila Dixon orders the Baltimore City Solicitor to stop working on a new policy that would have allowed her to use public money for her legal bills. Dixon could stills seek reimbursement on a case-by-case basis. [Baltimore Sun]

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Environmental activists want stricter emissions standards for Baltimore’s incinerator, sue O’Malley administration. [Baltimore Sun]

Although overall education funding increased, funding directly to local schools was cut by $69 million in the state budget. [Maryland Politics]

Mayor Sheila Dixon declines to talk about a new proposal for the city to reimburse her legal fees, shoves reporters microphone. [Baltimore Sun]

O’Malley announces new initiative to reduce juvenile crime. [Baltimore Examiner]

Maryland Chamber of Commerce wants a gas tax increase to fund transportation projects, but political support is lacking. [Maryland Daily Record]

New blog exposes Baltimore “slumlords.” [Baltimore Slumlord Watch]

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It’s still almost two years until the next state-wide election, but the state’s major political players are already actively raising money. Campaign finance reports covering 2008 were due yesterday and many have already been posted online by the University of Maryland.

Here’s a breakdown of the fundraising activity of some of the state’s prominent politicos (click the name for details):

Mike Busch (House Speaker)
Raised: $116,245
Spent: $56,943
Cash on Hand: $169,943

Mike Miller (Senate President)
Raised: $379,140
Spent: $114,790
Cash on Hand: $644,233

Doug Gansler (Attorney General)
Raised: $660,384
Spent: $51,200
Cash on Hand: $1,255,115

Bob Ehrlich (Former Governor)
Raised: $95,640
Spent: $66,559
Cash on Hand: $151,529

Jim Smith (Baltimore County Executive)
Raised: $643,543
Spent: $172,885
Cash on Hand: $696,617

O’Malley’s report wasn’t available when I wrote this post but, according to news reports, he has about $2 million cash on hand. At this point, it does not appear that Ehrlich is planning on mounting a serious challenge to O’Malley in 2010.

Another note: If you examine the reports closely, you’ll see that in Maryland a good deal of money is raised directly from corporations and businesses. This isn’t allowed at the federal level.

You can look up their campaign finance reports for other candidates here.

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Baltimore taxpayers may foot the bill for Mayor Shelia Dixon’s legal defense. Dixon was recently indicted on 12 counts including stealing gift cards for the needy and lying on her ethics disclosure forms. [Baltimore Sun]

Despite deep budget cuts this year, Maryland officials still project a $713 million deficit for next year. [Washington Post]

Environmental groups will brief legislators today on the state of efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. [WJZ]

Gansler and O’Malley are flush heading into 2010. [Baltimore Sun]

Details on which state agencies will see layoffs and which will have staff increases. [Maryland Politics]

Maryland abortion activists on both sides of the debate are energized by the possible passage of a the federal Freedom of Choice Act. [Capital News Service]

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At an afternoon press conference, Gov. Martin O’Malley officially unveiled his state budget. For the first time in history, general revenue spending will decline. From the release:

Governor O’Malley continued, “This budget is, by necessity, painfully lean. We were forced to cut or level-fund many worthy programs that are important to the future of our State. But because they are important to our State we worked hard to protect these programs and hold them harmless this year.

“At the same time, we are not willing to abandon the important progress we’ve achieved for our families these past two years, including the progress that led Education Week to rank our public school system #1 in America just a week ago. Nor are we willing to turn our back on our workforce and Maryland families who are struggling in this difficult economy to make ends meet.”

The priorities in this year’s budget are clearly education and programs that directly provide economic support to families. Spending for higher education, K-12 education and social services is increased, although not dramatically.

Meanwhile, in what will surely be a disappointment for many, spending for natural resources and the environment received a significant overall cut. It is unwelcome news, particularly in light of data indicating that the 25 year effort to save the Chesapeake Bay is failing.

Transportation funding is also cut. Perhaps the federal stimulus package can help in this area.

You can read the Department of Management and Budget’s budget highlights document here. (Warning: It’s 200 pages). Below is a four page document released by the governor’s office that features charts and other details that explain the budget.

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Maryland Politics has important new details about this year’s state budget:

Spending will actually decline next year. O’Malley is proposing a general fund (the part of the budget that is funded by state tax dollars) of $14.4 billion. That’s 1.3 percent less than last year’s budget of $14.6 billion and even a bit smaller than the budget from the year before. In fact, it’s only about $250 million more than Ehrlich’s last budget. That’s pretty remarkable; given spending on education, Medicaid and other formula-driven programs, state government spending pretty much always goes up. In fact, spending has never declined in the last 25 years…

K-12 education funding takes a hit after years of rapid growth as a result of the Thornton formula. But spending on the University System of Maryland increases enough to maintain a tuition freeze…

O’Malley resolves a $400 million shortfall in the current year budget through $208 million in cuts and $619 million in fund transfers, which also provides some cash to help the state get through 2010.

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The first details of the state budget, to be introduced by O’Malley at 1:30PM, have started to leak out. Senate President Mike Miller, who has been briefed on the budget the Governor’s office, just revealed that O’Malley will propose laying off 700 state workers. Previously, O’Malley indicted his budget would include layoffs, but refused to say exactly how many.

Miller also added that he may introduce legislation shifting “shifting the cost of teacher pensions from the state to the counties,” even though it’s not included in O’Malley’s budget.

UPDATE: The budget will also include a freeze on state tuition for the fourth straight year.

UPDATE II: The budget assumes Maryland will get $350 million from the proposed federal surplus.

Check back with the New Line throughout the day for news and analysis of the Maryland budget.

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Gov. O’Malley will announce his budget this afternoon at 1:30PM. [WBAL]

Officials say that Maryland should not cut public safety funds to close the $1.9 billion budget shortfall, warning that even small cuts can have a big impact. [Washington Post]

Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel issues a memo halting all new or pending regulations proposed by the Bush administration. [Federal Eye]

Opponents of the proposed liquefied natural gas plant at Sparrows point are hoping the Obama administration will halt construction. [Baltimore Examiner]

Gov. O’Malley plans to introduce legislation prohibiting police to spy on political activists who are not suspected of criminal activity. The bill comes following revelations that, for 14 months, the Maryland State Police assigned undercover officers to spy on opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war. [Washington Post]

Maryland GOP sends out fundraising email attacking Democrats for four proposed bills they’ve labeled wasteful, scary or frivolous. [Maryland Politics]

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