State Budget

State Sen. Janet GreenipGRASONVILLE -- Question 2, the ballot referendum which would allow slot machines along Maryland's I-95 corridor, took center stage at the Queen Anne's County NAACP forum on Saturday.

State Sen. Janet Greenip (R-Crofton) argued against slot machines, saying they will cause addiction and won't generate nearly as much money as people expect. Carroll Hyson took the opposite position, saying the referendum will generate roughly $660 million in new education funding each year and that addiction won't be an issue.

Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold (R) said Tuesday he will be submitting revisions to impact fee legislation currently pending in the county council.

The new proposal aims to temporarily cut a variety of fees certain developers are required to pay to the county government until 2010.

"In the current economic environment, we should help protect jobs and still ensure that developers pay their fare share to add infrastructure," Leopold said in a statement.  "In some cases, impact fees will be reduced during an interim period before full implementation. Anne Arundel County has critical needs with regard to roads and schools, and failure to act will exacerbate billions of dollars of backlogs."

Comptroller Peter Franchot (D-Takoma Park) says he'll support Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D-Baltimore) proposed budget cuts at tomorrow's Board of Public Works meeting, but insists he still differs with the governor on November's slots referendum.

"At this point, it is clear we are in the midst of the most serious economic situation we have seen since the Great Depression, and we have no choice but to tighten our belts and reign in State spending," Franchot said in a statement.

O'Malley will be proposing roughly $400 million worth of budget cuts at tomorrow's Board of Public works meeting, according to Shaun Adamec, a press secretary for O'Malley. Adamec says the governor has still not ruled out a furlough program since the state's deficit directly relates to the national economy.

The Maryland Republican Party says a new swath of proposed budget cuts could have been avoided if Gov. Martin O'Malley wasn't bloating the budget by rewarding special interests. The calls came just one day after O'Malley announced he would be considering steeper cuts to funding for health care and education, in addition to considering a furlough plan to combat the state's fiscal woes.

"If Governor O'Malley had spent his first two years combing through every state department's budget, rather than rewarding the liberal special interests and his campaign cronies with big-spending programs, our budget outlook would be much improved today," Maryland Republican Party Chairman Jim Pelura said in a statement.

Pelura argued O'Malley should be cutting non-essential items first, before bearing the burden on programs that protect the public's safety and children.