Legum’s New Line

It only took Governor Martin O’Malley one day to start putting Maryland’s share of the federal stimulus package to use. Today, O’Malley and the Board of Public Works approved $365 million in transportation spending. Maryland Moment has details of the announcement:

Work on some projects will start within 30 days, he said. The governor cautioned that that projects aren’t eye-catching investments that will warrant big ribbon-cuttings. “There is not a Golden Gate Bridge or Bay Bridge among them,” O’Malley said at a meeting of the Board of Public Works, which voted to approve close to $3 million to renovate the MARC station in Laurel.. “But they are needed throughout the state.”

…The projects include: $223 million for highway projects, $146 million of it for resurfacing and $142 million for transit projects. Of that $65 million will pay for 100 hybrid buses and equipment.

You can check out the details here.

If you want to dive into how the stimulus will impact all levels of Maryland Government over the next two years, check out this detailed fact sheet distributed by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).

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With the details of the final stimulus package finalized and expected to be signed by the President within days, the impact of the legislation on Maryland is coming into focus. Yesterday, the White House estimated the package would create 66,000 jobs in Maryland.

The Maryland Gazette has the breakdown of the approximately $3.3 billion of direct financial assistance to the state:

-$1 billion for education, including $400 million that will go toward the counties for Title 1

-$1 billion plus for Medicaid, replacing state money budgeted for the program. In essence, it’s $1 billion into the state’s general fund

-$800 million for infrastructure

-$600 million for school modernization

Gov. O’Malley said yesterday that the stimulus package may allow Maryland to avoid the 700 layoffs that were included in his 2010 budget.

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It appears there will not be a slot parlor built at Laurel Race track. The state commission charged with approving the bid rejected the Jockey Club’s bid to install slots at Laurel this afternoon because it did not include the required $28.5 million licensing fee. The Washington Post has the details:

The plight of the Jockey Club and its Canadian owner, Magna Entertainment, marks a remarkable reversal in fortunes from six years ago.

In 2003, Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s first year in office, a bill explicitly made two Magna-owned tracks eligible for slots, Pimlico in Baltimore as well as Laurel Park. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House.

As the battle over slots continued throughout the remainder of Ehrlich’s term, Magna tracks maintained favored status in subsequent legislation, none of which made it to the governor.

Since 2003, the company and affiliated entities have spent more than $4.4 million on lobbying expenses, among the greatest outlays by any special interest in Annapolis. The Maryland Jockey Club, which is controlled by Magna, currently retains one of the top-earning lobbying firms in the capital.

The Jockey Club also spent nearly $3 million last year to promote the passage of the referendum that authorized slots in Maryland. A major argument in favor of the referendum was that it was necessary to save horse racing in the state. Now, it appears that the racing industry will have to figure out how to survive in Maryland largely without the help of slots. Meanwhile, bids have been placed for fewer than half of the 15,000 machines authorized by voters last year.

Lawyers for the Jockey Club indicated they would challenge the commission’s decision in court.

UPDATE: Attorneys for the Jockey Club have already gone to court asking for an injunction of the commission’s decision. A hearing will be held at Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on February 26.

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Yesterday on ABC’s This Week, Former Maryland Lt. Governor and current RNC Chairman Michael Steele said that President Barack Obama’s approach to economic stimulus was not supported by the American people. Steele said that “the president is upside-down with the voters on this issue.”

Today, a new poll by Gallup shows that the American people strongly support Obama’s handling of the stimulus issue:

Many states, including Maryland, are counting on a robust federal stimulus package to avoid painful cuts to education and other critical state services. Maryland would “gain nearly $3.5 billion from the House authorized version of the stimulus, money that would mean the retention of 100,000 Maryland jobs.”

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If you were hoping that Michael Steele would bring a new approach to Republican Party politics, here’s some bad news. Less than 24 hours after being elected chairman of the RNC, Steele praised House members for their lockstep opposition to President Obama’s stimulus bill, saying “the goose egg that you laid on the president’s desk was just beautiful.”

More from CQ Politics:

Michael Steele, the new national GOP chairman, urged House Republicans at the end of their three-day retreat to stick to their stand against the $819 billion stimulus measure as they plot their strategy for the 111th Congress.

A day after he won election as RNC chairman, Steele told the gathering at the Homestead resort that the minority party had sent a strong message to President Obama by joining together to oppose the version of the stimulus passed by the House (HR 1).

“This week the emphasis will shift to the Senate, and I am hoping they listen and learn from the very important message that you sent this week,” Steele told the GOP lawmakers, who had closed ranks and cast 177 “no” votes when the bill was before the House.

The Politico reports that Steele also “jokingly told members” that “we’re living in an era of bipartisanship.”

UPDATE I: Steele repeated his “goose egg” comment this morning on Bob Ehrlich’s radio show. You can listen to the audio of the interview, his first as RNC chair, here.

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Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) was one of just 11 Democrats to vote against the stimulus bill in the House of Representatives. The vote is a clear sign that Kratovil won’t be shy about breaking from the Democratic House leadership.

With Andy Harris already gearing up to run against him again in 2010, Kratovil is smart to establish himself as an independent voice. In this case, however, Kratovil cast the wrong vote.

Kratovil’s primary objection to the bill was that it contained “wasteful spending” and that it was exempt from “pay-go” requirements the mandate “all expenditures are somehow offset in order to keep budgets balanced.” In this case, however, the spending is not “wasteful;” it’s absolutely necessary to jumpstart an economy that is hemorrhaging jobs. Further, spending intended as stimulus, by definition, cannot be offset. The idea is to provide additional economic activity to create jobs and pull the country out of recession. If this spending is offset by other reductions in spending, it doesn’t act as stimulus.

More on the Democrats who voted against the stimulus bill at ThinkProgress.

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A report released quietly today by the General Assembly’s Office of Policy Analysis details the bleak state of Chesapeake Bay restoration funding. The little noticed report reveals serious problems in some of Maryland’s most high profile efforts to clean up the bay. Among the report’s findings:

1. Disappearing revenue. The 2009 budget included $50 million for the creation of trust fund dedicated to Chesapeake Bay restoration. The funds were to be administered by the new BayStat program to the most cost effective clean up proposals based on hard data. The figure was subsequently reduced by $25 million, and then again by another $5 million, leaving a total available appropriation $20 million. But of that $20 million, only $9.6 million actually materialized from the gas and rental car tax that funds the program.

Out of the available $9.6 million, the report estimates that around $9.5 million was already committed to the Maryland Department of Agriculture to reimburse framers that plant cover crops. So, the Office of Policy Analysis estimated there was just $100,000 left that could be allocated through BayStat. In 2010, the budget estimates there will be $13.1 million in unallocated funds available. But it is unclear how much, if any, will materialize.

2. Less transparency. In previous years, the budget included an appendix which details exactly how much is being spend on Chesapeake Bay restoration (“Appendix Q: Summary of Chesapeake Bay Restoration Expenditures By Agency). That appendix was not included this year, making it difficult to evaluate overall trends in funding.

3. Missing reports. The BayStat program is required by law to release a report each year detailing how it spent their money the previous year and what its plan is for distributing funds in the current year. Those plans were not submitted.

The full report is available here.

It was inevitable that the economic downturn would have some impact on Chesapeake Bay funding. Maryland’s long term economic future, however, depends on restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

There has been a major effort to save the bay for 25 years, with little to show for it. One reason is that we haven’t followed through on our commitments. It’s essential that we start to change that now.

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On Wednesday, Gov. O’Malley announced that, as a result of the $1.9 billion state deficit, substantial layoffs, in the range of 500 to 1000, would be included in the budget he submits next week to the general assembly.

The proposal was met with substantial criticism, notably from Senate President Mike Miller. Today on WYPR, O’Malley softened his position a bit, saying that the federal stimulus package proposed by Barack Obama may ultimately make the layoffs unnecessary.

You can listen to the clip of O’Malley HERE.

The Governor will officially introduce his budget on Wednesday.

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The New Line has obtained a report just issued by the Department of Legislative Services that analyzes and projects the impact of the national recession on Maryland. It’s not a pretty picture. Among the low-lights:

– Employment will fall 2% in Maryland in 2009 and grow by a meager 0.1% in 2010.

– At current revenue levels, the budget deficit will persist through at least Fiscal Year 2012.

– The dramatic decline in vehicle sales and lower vehicle miles traveled will vastly reduce the capital available for transportation projects.

You can read the whole report below:

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Yesterday, the Task Force for Future Growth and Development in Maryland released it’s final report. The task force describes two strikingly different outcomes for development in Maryland over the next thirty years.

Here is what will happen by 2030 if the state keep its current development policies:

That outcome represents “an additional 650,000 acres being converted from rural uses to urban development by 2030. Forests and farms would be replaced by houses and highways stretching from the head of the Chesapeake Bay to southern Maryland.”

Here is what will happen by 2030 if the state adopts smart growth strategies, that focuses growth in areas where development already exists:

Under this scenario “only 150,000 acres being developed – and 500,000 acres of forested and agricultural land being preserved for productive and recreational uses.”

Preserving undeveloped land is also essential for the struggle to restore the Chesapeake Bay.

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