Cuts Will Jeopardize the Safety and Welfare of Millions of Maryland Residents

Gov. Larry Hogan is proceeding with unnecessary reductions in services that will hinder the progress the state has made in helping more Marylanders get the health care they need, jeopardize the safety of police and correctional officers throughout the state, and potentially lead to layoffs at state universities.

The governor is pushing ahead with these across-the-board cuts to the state budget that will take $118 million from essential state services while he also remains unwilling to use more than $200 million in available revenue to help ensure that Marylanders have good schools, safe communities, and reliable access to health care.

Because of the governor’s abrupt budget reductions, most state agencies will have to make cuts that affect service Maryland residents rely on every day, according to a detailed report from the state Department of Budget and Management.

Of particular concern are cuts in public safety areas. The state police will have fewer resources to carry out essential work in high-crime areas such as Baltimore city, following the unrest in April. Likewise, corrections officers will have to work 10-hour shifts, putting lives at risk in the process due to the stress of the work, in order for the Department of Safety and Correctional Services to absorb its $24 million reduction.

Governor Hogan’s plan uses unsubstantiated projections to justify its cuts. For instance, the largest reduction to the corrections budget assumes that there will be fewer expenses due to the continuing decline in the prison inmate population. However, this summer’s surging violence in Baltimore city suggests otherwise.

Furthermore, the governor justified cutting $1.3 million from payments that support families caring for foster children due to an “anticipated decline in caseloads.”

Just after the governor released the details of his budget cuts, the Comptroller announced that the state closed the fiscal year that ended June 30 with a $295 million surplus, which is large enough to avoid the 2 percent across-the-board cuts and provide needed support for public schools. Earlier this year, the governor did not fund at the required level the Geographic Cost Education Index, which helps school districts where the cost to educate students is higher. This cut affects more than 80 percent of the state’s schoolchildren.

Instead of saving this surplus, the governor should restore cuts to education and all other important areas and use the additional resources to invest in the future of our state.