Don’t Try This With Your Banker

From the Washington Post:

In a 103 to 36 vote along party lines in the Democrat-controlled chamber, delegates elected to save about $150 million by scaling back the formula used to fund public schools and to eliminate 750 vacant state jobs. The spending cuts are a key component of O’Malley’s plan to eliminate a projected budget shortfall of at least $1.5 billion during a special legislative session.

[…]

The House bill is similar to legislation passed by the Senate last week calling for $515 million in spending cuts. But several differences between the two bills will need to be reconciled. The House spelled out detailed program cuts to recommend to O’Malley; the Senate bill was far less specific.

Delegates trimmed spending on stem cell research grants, from $23 million to $20 million this year, and recommended that O’Malley maintain the reduced level of funding next year. In a move projected to save about $31 million next year, the committee decided to eliminate a property tax exemption for machinery and equipment used by utility companies to generate electricity.

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What a courageous act. After slapping a billion-plus dollars of new taxes on us, taxes that will primarily hit middle and low income Marylanders, we’re supposed to be happy about these “cuts.”

They voted to eliminate 750 vacant jobs. They voted to not raise education spending as fast as they had intended. They voted to spend $20 million instead of $23 million on ESC research. They voted to lay off $31 million in rate increases on the customers of affected utilities.

Is there a real cut in here?