O'Malley Rolls Out $37.7B Budget Proposal

The governor touts $325 million in cuts even as proposed spending increases by 4 percent over the current levels.

UPDATED (6:32 p.m.)—Gov. Martin O'Malley Wednesday presented his budget plan for the coming year that he called "a jobs budget." The budget contains no tax increases though O'Malley declined to discuss the possibility of a tax for transportation projects. "These have been challenging times to say the least," O'Malley said. He was referencing the seventh budget of his tenure as governor at the same time that the state has weathered one of the most severe economic downturns in history. O'Malley said Maryland taxpayers "expect their government to do more with less." The proposed $37.3 billion spending plan is for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The governor's proposed budget contains $325 million in spending cuts even though the …

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Brian

9:31 am on Monday, January 21, 2013

"Hate gays and immigrants as much as you want," Hmmm. I don't see this in my statement above jag. Actually, I hate people like yourself. Smug, arrogant people like you who are oblivious to what the government's role should be. Smacking sense into your head , all be it futile, would bring to me a great "sense" of satisfaction. I've learned by now that intelligent debate among conservatives like …   more ›

Open Thread: What Do You Think of the Fiscal Cliff Deal?

Readers are asked to share their solutions to problems facing our communities.

Despite actually passing the so-called fiscal cliff deadline, the Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill that President Barack Obama signed, preventing the country from actually going over the cliff, for now. The fiscal cliff essentially would have resulted in tax rates on all income levels reverting to where they were under President Bill Clinton along with cuts to the federal government’s discretionary spending. Spending on entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would not have been touched. Some economist and politicians argued that the double whammy of increased taxes and reduced government spending could have crippled the economy’s fragile recovery from the 2008 recession. According to the New York Times…

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SPEAK OUT: Will the Fiscal Cliff Slow The Area's Economic Recovery?

Data shows DC-area improving on three key metrics, but will it continue?

As the Democrats and Republicans continue to blame each other for lack of compromise on federal spending matters, it seems more likely that the U.S. will plunge over the fiscal cliff like Wile E. Coyote in the old Road Runner cartoons. Media coverage of Washington's cat and mouse (or coyote and land bird) game has overshadowed some positive movement in the economy in the metro area. The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization, recently released its December 2012 report on economic recovery data in the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas. Overall, Brookings data shows the country moving slowly in a positive direction, with unemployment ticking down, output edging up and home prices posting gains. The Washington, DC metro …

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National School Boards Association: Federal Cuts Would Deliver Crippling Blow to Public Education

The association's leaders claimed that there would be more than $400 billion in federal funding cuts in public education nationwide if sequestration provisions are implemented.