The Washington Post gave Gov. O'Malley a backhanded compliment when it lauded his relatively low increase in spending even as it noted his pulling back from campaign initiatives:
MARYLAND GOV. Martin O'Malley (D) didn't waste any time stashing his lofty talk about bold initiatives and great programmatic leaps. That's all right, because the fat years have ended; the governor inherited a $400 million shortfall for the coming fiscal year and is staring at a projected budget gap of $1.3 billion for the following year. Until Mr. O'Malley comes up with a serious revenue plan -- and that seems to be in his bulging wait-till-next-year file for the legislature -- there's trouble ahead.After then dissing his drawing on funds in the state's reserves, the Post then applauds O'Malley's failure to fully fund the Geographic Cost of Education Index in the Thornton Plan:
Mr. O'Malley proposes a record amount of money for school construction. In providing funds to meet the separate demands of the 2002 Thornton education plan, the governor wisely held back $94.7 million from the Geographic Cost of Education Index, which would have steered additional money to Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Mr. Ehrlich never funded it. A reasonable case can be made that Montgomery could absorb the cost and that Prince George's should drop its TRIM -- Tax Reform Initiative by Marylanders -- tax cap before passing the hat for help from Annapolis. The governor's proposal to freeze tuition at public universities will draw cheers, but, again, how long can a freeze stay in place?Of course, O'Malley is trying to fund the GCEI and partially funding it even if he can't do it all this year. I'm sure the Post won many new friends in its suburban Washington readership by suggesting that we should all pay more taxes and virtually inviting the General Assembly to renege on the part of the Thornton Plan, a complex negotiated package, that benefits the region adjoining DC. The Post concluded its editorial with a call for more aggressive leadership, especially in reforming Maryland's tax system:
I'm not sure that the General Assembly or Democrats around the state would disagree that O'Malley needs to use more of his political capital before it dissipates. Tax reform and getting the state budget on a sound long-term footing would not be a bad place to start.In his budget submission letter, Mr. O'Malley raved that his initial budget "begins to rise to our perils and possibilities.'' But if he doesn't get cracking on the revenue front, those "perils" will dominate. The governor must produce a full-fledged revision of Maryland's tax system, which hasn't undergone significant repair in about 50 years. Corporate income tax shelters ought to be eliminated. The gas tax, not raised in 15 years, must be increased, and a tax on services is long overdue.
The Democratic legislature won't roll over and endorse all that the new governor seeks, but he should seize the honeymoon moment to take on some of the big issues with proposals for this session.
