ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland’s Democratic-led Legislature approved scaled-back versions of some of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s priorities Monday night as the state’s 90-day legislative session ended, but Democrats battled with Hogan over the state’s $40 billion budget.
Hogan’s push to make charter schools more flexible was approved. He also won some tax relief on military pensions for people over 65. With help from Democrats, he fulfilled a campaign promise to end state-mandated stormwater fees. The last several days of the session, however, were marked by strains over funding the state’s pension system and future budget deficits.
“We’ve got some concerns about raiding the pension,” Hogan said. “We’ve got some concerns about the structural deficit …, but overall we want to thank the Legislature for their efforts.”
Hogan said earlier in the day that he thought the $40 billion budget Democrats went on to pass was “irresponsible,” and he said he might not spend about $203 million that Democrats had set aside for education, a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for state employees and health care programs. Hogan, who still must give final approval to the spending, said he might decide not to spend the money.
The House and Senate passed the budget on partisan votes.
Democrats passed a bill to fully pay for a funding formula that directs about $136 million to parts of the state where education costs more, something Hogan only wanted to fund by half. The measure is contingent on whether Hogan decides to fully fund the formula with money Democrats set aside in the budget.
House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, noted how a bipartisan spirit on initial budget votes deteriorated into partisan wrangling on Monday.
“I think it put a real damper on the bipartisan atmosphere that we created for 85 days, and I think there’s going to have to be some wounds healed as we come into the next session,” Busch said shortly after session ended. “We’re going to be here for three more years together, and I think there’s a lot of concerns about the way this budget negotiation was handled.”
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, D-Calvert, said he hoped Hogan would follow through on Democratic priorities in the budget.
“We want to work with him,” Miller said. “His priorities have been addressed. We need to make certain our priorities which we fenced off are going to get fully funded.”
A sore point of contention between Hogan and Democratic lawmakers revolved around a planned $150 million extra payment to the state’s pension system to help address unfunded liabilities. Democrats decided to use $75 million to make room in the budget for education, state employee pay and health care programs. But Hogan opposes the move.
Lawmakers also approved a Hogan proposal to bring back a check-off on personal income tax returns to shore up a public campaign finance fund. Hogan became the first Maryland candidate to governor to win the election with public campaign finance funds, and it has been drained down to about $1.1 million. The check-off had been repealed in 2010 after no one had used it since 1994.
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