Federal Stimulus Funds Are a Curse - State Spending Affordability Blown Out the Wazoo 4/09

Statement by State Senator David R. Brinkley - Third Reader Debate for the FY10 Budget

When I first came to the state legislature in 1995, I remember taking my first budget vote on the floor of the House of Delegates.  It was a $14 billion budget at that point.  I recall thinking that it was $100 million dollars per each member of the House.  That number was staggering to me.  For today’s budget vote, we are well over double that amount.

This year, some members are looking at the federal stimulus money as a godsend.  It is not - instead it is a curse.  It is temporary federal assistance that increases the state funding side of the General Fund by 7%.  Two years from now, the legislature will have to increase state funds in the budget by at least 10% to replace the loss of federal support and just maintain the current level of services today.  That’s not going to happen - especially under the current economic climate and the continuing decline in state revenues.

We need fundamental budgetary changes to correct our structural deficits over the short-term and the long-term.  President Miller and I both introduced bills to try to share some of the teacher pensions cost with local government. Unfortunately, those bills were shelved in favor of a summer commission to study these budgetary issues.  Hopefully this commission will offer long-term solutions to Maryland’s budget dilemma that we can consider at next year's session. 

Today, through passage of this budget, we must send a message to the local governments throughout the state.  When you prepare your budgets and when you negotiate with your employees, teachers, unions and others, be cognizant that you cannot continue to count on the level of support in the state budget as it has been in the past.  State employees have not been enjoying the salary and benefits at the same level as the local governments.  And it’s not to say that everybody’s swimming in cash, it’s just to say that is there are extremely challenging times ahead for state and local finances.