Rays of Hope Emerge Despite Dire Fiscal Climate The 2009 legislative session was dominated by the economic outlook and the need to make drastic budget cuts. There was no easy way to cut yet another $1 billion from the operating budget, as lawmakers were forced to do when projected tax revenues for next fiscal year were revised downward. But most people left Annapolis in April believing the Governor and lawmakers had done their best to cut spending with the least amount of pain possible.

Our clients took some hits along with everyone else, but a combination of hard work, strategic maneuvering within the budget process, and some luck helped preserve core programs and services that have an impact on Marylanders’ everyday lives. Assistance from the federal stimulus plan enacted by Congress in February helped alleviate the pain, as the deficit would have been $2 billion without that assistance. But the real credit goes to the Governor and 188 lawmakers who worked day and night to make the hard choices that will help our state ride-out the storm and ultimately thrive when conditions improve.

Some of our budget success stories include:

$15.4 Million to Fund Stem Cell Research

This program will someday yield life-saving discoveries and has already helped create jobs and stimulate the economy by bolstering our state’s bio-tech industry.

Full Funding for Program Open Space

We worked with lawmakers to forge a compromise where they would take transfer tax money normally appropriated by law for open space and replace it with a mixture of capital financing and operating funds that ultimately should allow for the same amount of land purchases to take place during FY 2010.

$10 Million for the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays Trust Fund

$12.3 million for Cover Crops that Will Help Farmers Reduce Runoff Like Program Open Space, these programs had huge bull’s-eyes on their backs when the deficit started growing.

$21 Million for Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening and Treatment

Yet another program that could have been targeted for cuts but actually received a slight increase so low-income working women can receive life-saving care and continue working, raising their families and being productive members of society.

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