Statement from Governor O'Malley on Revised Budget Projections
ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 17, 2009) –Governor Martin O’Malley released this statement today following the release of revised budget projections from the Board of Revenue Estimates.
“Today, once again the Board of Revenue Estimates revised its prior budget estimates downward to reflect ongoing challenges due to the national economy. Each time the BRE has revised its estimates downward, we have acted quickly and responsibly to cut state spending.
“To date, we have cut state spending by $4.3 billion, bringing spending below 2007 levels by 434 million. We have eliminated 3,200 state positions from one of the leanest state governments in the nation. And after two years of holding local jurisdictions harmless, we cut aid to local communities by more than $200 million. At the same time, we have maintained our state's coveted triple A bond rating, saving taxpayers millions, and we have kept our state's rainy day fund whole.
“As our families and small businesses are doing more with less, our state government is also doing more with less.
“We have worked to reform long-neglected and historically-troubled state agencies and in doing so we have found new efficiencies and cost savings. But these are not easy times and these reforms alone cannot make up for lost revenue due to the greatest national recession since the Great Depression.
“While making these difficult decisions, we have also chosen to act responsibly, making the tough decisions necessary to balance the state's budget, while not carelessly adding to unemployment rolls, cutting services or abandoning our core priorities and principles.
“We have chosen to protect funding for public education. We have chosen to invest in school construction to take our children out of temporary learning shacks. We have chosen to make college more affordable. We have chosen to invest in healing life-sciences, biotech, and new emerging sectors of our economy. We have chosen to invest in training and vocational programs for working families in our state. And we have chosen to invest in a more sustainable future, including open space and restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
“We have chosen to act responsibly. Yet, at the same time the $4.3 billion in cuts we have already made have had real consequences for our families and our communities; and the unfortunate reality is that more cuts will be needed.
“As we have worked to guide Maryland's economy through this national recession for the last two years, we will act responsibly, working with stakeholders and local partners, to make the tough decisions necessary to bring the state's budget into balance. This will not be easy, but we will make these decisions mindful always of the impact they will have on our families, our communities and our mission to improve public safety and public education in every region of our state, and to expand, indeed to protect, opportunities for more of our families.”
