Governor O’Malley’s Final Budget Increases Spending and Leaves Fiscal Mess to Successor

Governor Martin O’Malley (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Taxpayers in Maryland have endured the tax and spend policies of Governor Martin O’Malley for seven years and as he prepares to leave office as leader of a state with, as a recent Tax Foundation study put it, one of the “least friendly business climates” in the nation, he has given Maryland residents his final annual budget and there’s really no surprise that it does exactly what a big spender like O’Malley would do: spend more taxpayer money.

Last week, in the first major act of his final year in office, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley dropped his final annual budget (complete with a fancy power point presentation) and it was nothing less than more of the same from a chief executive who has presided over tax and fee increases, government spending increases, a disastrous state-based health care exchange, and increased deficits that show no sign of going anywhere soon.

Here are some of the most important facts about the final budget proposal from Governor O’Malley:

• The total budget comes in at $39.3 billion; that is a 5% increase over the last year and it is $10 billion more than O’Malley’s first budget back in 2007
• The plan would ensure his successor inherits a deficit of nearly $190 million
• There is a pay increase for government employees (2%)
• The plan aims to spend record amounts on education ($6.1 billion) and health care ($8.9 billion), creating new government programs and expanding existing ones

This is a blueprint that should concern taxpayers in Maryland who see the need for reforming the state so that small businesses want to invest for the future there and  an environment where private sector jobs are on the rise and government spending in on the decline. This budget does the opposite and doubles down on the failed policies of Governor O’Malley that have kept Maryland low on the economic totem pole throughout his tenure. Instead of finding ways to reduce the tax burden on businesses and individuals in the state that have come as a direct result of O’Malley’s actions, he does nothing to help small business and taxpayers while increasing government payrolls and government paychecks. How can the state ever reduce deficits if spending is increasing? Simple answer: they cant; and certainly for the next Governor of Maryland, whoever that may be, will be handed a budget deficit thanks to the policies of Governor O’Malley.

There is another important aspect as to why the budget proposal from O’Malley should be worrisome for taxpayers: unintended consequences. Specifically, looking at his plans for education and health care within the budget he submitted that take up the two largest shares of spending respective of all other areas. With a proposal of expanding existing programs and creating new programs within education and healthcare that O’Malley is “investing,” there can be no way to know how these programs will actually fare until he is out of office. For all the talk from O’Malley about how he has made spending cuts, that claim really just doesn’t comport with the numbers. State spending has increased $10 billion since his first budget and there are some accounting gimmicks at play here when it comes to the claim of “cutting spending” and “closing budget-gaps” as detailed Len Lazarick on MarylandReporter.com:

If O’Malley has cut $9 billion over the last seven years, how come this proposed budget for fiscal 2015 is almost $10 billion higher than the first budget he proposed for fiscal 2008?

…The budget can’t be balanced unless mandated spending increases for programs such as education and health care are cut, but these are generally cuts in growth, not cuts in actual spending from year to year.

With this final budget, Governor O’Malley solidified his legacy as an elected official who favors more government spending, endless deficits, and growing government. There’s no doubt that the future for Maryland taxpayers is one they’ll be paying for long after O’Malley is gone

The best solutions for taxpayers in Maryland are ones that won’t see them left with deficits and “unforeseen costs” on programs that have already been seeing record levels of funding. The answer isn’t to lean on more public funds just to stay afloat, it is to reform the programs and make them more efficient and less costly for all taxpayers. Maryland deserves a better budget plan from the Governor and State Assembly that will reduce spending, implement real reform, and begin to create a business-friendly atmosphere for entrepreneurs who would like to set up shop and create jobs while also positively contributing to the local economy.