Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposal to cut $1.45 billion from the state’s budget in the next fiscal year has received criticism from Comptroller Peter Franchot, economic policy experts, teachers unions, and labor unions who say the cuts will make the economic recession worse.

The proposal calls for slashing the state’s $47.9 billion budget by about 3%, which would mean across the board reductions for almost every state agency. The reductions come after Maryland’s revenue projections forecast a $1 billion loss in revenue for the 2021 fiscal year because of the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The state’s Department of Budget and Management reports Hogan’s budget cut proposal excludes reductions on the state’s debt payments, mandated funding for public schools (including the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind), and salaries of public officers serving a term in office.

The state’s three-member Board of Public Works will vote Wednesday on $672 million of the proposed cuts. The General Assembly will vote on remaining budget cuts when lawmakers return to session.

Wednesday’s vote could make some of the following reductions:

• 92 vacant state employee positions
• $201 million from K-12 education aid
• $36.4 million from community colleges’ $286 million allocation.
• $12.4 million decrease disparity grant funding and $27.7 million elimination of teacher retirement supplemental grants to counties, including Prince George’s, that are less affluent.
• $47.1 million from the Department of Health, including the elimination of the 4% mandated increase for Medicaid, behavioral health, and developmental disability providers.
• $8.1 million from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services, including violence intervention programs.
• $7.4 million from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Institutes, including $565,000 for the Inmate Welfare Fund

Comptroller Peter Franchot, one of the board members, said he opposes at least $205 million of the proposed cuts, including those to education, the disparities grants, teachers’ retirement contributions, and state employee health insurance.

“The bottom line is we’re not going to vote for cuts on the backs of public services, teachers, and the most vulnerable in our community,” a spokesperson for Franchot said.

Economic experts at the Maryland Center for Economic Policy said the cuts come before the 2019 state tax filing deadline was extended to mid-July due to the coronavirus pandemic and possible federal stimulus coming from Congress.

“It’s irresponsible to jump to massive budget cuts that will have lasting harmful impacts on Maryland’s families and communities when there are still other options on the table. Cutting is not the only option on the table here,” the center’s Executive Director Benjamin Orr told DCist/WAMU.

Advocates with the Maryland State Education Association, the state’s teachers union, called the proposed cut in public school funding “unconscionable and endangering the health of educators and students.”

“Crisis distance learning this spring has deepened inequities and achievement gaps among our students—and the governor’s cuts would only make them far worse,” President of MSEA Cheryl Bost wrote. “[Hogan’s] millions of dollars in cuts to the Healthy School Facilities Fund—designed to improve the public health conditions in school buildings—seem completely disengaged from reality.

Earlier this week, Hogan announced that $210 million of federal aid to the state for COVID19 relief would go toward distance learning technology, tutoring initiatives, and rural broadband access. With the backing of the National Governors Association, Hogan continues to ask Congress for an additional $500 billion for all states.

According to the Pew Research Center, 76% of Americans think Congress should provide financial assistance to states and local governments.

Other Options On The Table

Economic experts say budget cuts on state spending now could put the state in a deeper economic recession for years to come.

Orr compares the cuts to what the state did during the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009.

“During the Great Recession the state made deep budget cuts for similar reasons,” Orr said. “Those deep budget cuts actually made our [economic] crisis worse and slowed our economic recovery.”

Lucy Dadayan, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute’s Tax Policy Center, agrees.

“If you don’t want to repeat mistakes of the past that we’re seeing in a prolonged recovery, you have to identify what your priorities are,” Dadayan said. “These are desperate times and desperate measures are needed.”

Dadayan said she recommends cuts to programming for public parks, libraries, or swimming pools that are not “at the cost of education.”

Dadayan and other economic experts think Hogan should wait for that federal stimulus and the tax filing deadline in mid-July before making cuts. Liz McNichol from the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities said the first thing a state should do to balance their budgets is take money out of the rainy day fund.

“Those are funds that were saved up in good times to use in bad times to avoid the need for large spending cuts or large revenue raisers,” McNichols said.

Maryland is one of five states that doesn’t have any clearly written rules about the use of the rainy day fund, according to Pew Research.

Experts said another option to avoid budget cuts involves the General Assembly overriding Hogan’s vetoes on revenue raising bills when they return to session.

“It’s absolutely the right time to clean up our tax codes so that large profitable organizations and wealthy individuals who are still doing very well during this economic downturn can’t avoid paying their fair share of Maryland taxes,” Orr said.

Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s, Anne Arundel counties), vice chair of the Senate’s Budget and Tax Committee, said he is waiting to see what Hogan does with the additional $1 billion the state received from the CARES Act III package from Congress. In his view, those additional dollars could go to items Hogan is cutting from state spending.

“Clearly cutting education isn’t a priority for the leadership in the General Assembly,” Rosapepe said. “It doesn’t match our priorities.”

In the upcoming session, lawmakers also have the option to generate new revenue from sports wagering and recreational marijuana–ideas that have gained traction among lawmakers in years past.