CAROZZA SAYS THAT GOVERNOR HOGAN’S ACCOUNTABILITY BUDGET SUPPORTS SHORE PRIORITIES, HOLDS THE LINE ON OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING
ANNAPOLIS, MD—“Governor Larry Hogan’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget funds several Shore priorities while keeping with his theme of the Accountability Session and holding the line on out-of-control spending,” said Senator Mary Beth Carozza after her review of Governor Hogan’s proposed Fiscal Year 2021 budget. “I want to publicly thank Governor Hogan for his continued strong support of our Shore priorities.”
Governor Hogan’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget was introduced in the Senate on January 15, 2020. The proposed $47.9 billion in the Operating Budget includes record spending: $7.3 billion on K-12 education; $733 million for school construction; $74.5 million to fund police aid to local governments; $18.2 million in funding for community colleges; and $57.2 million in funding to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund. All of these priorities are funded without raising taxes.
Shore Operating Budget Highlights
· No new taxes
· $500,000 to support the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s efforts to secure accreditation of its Physician Assistant Program
· $175,000 for Salisbury University’s Downtown Entrepreneurial Center
· $1 million to support Main Street Improvement programs
· $177.7 million to meet the goals of the Agricultural Land Preservation Program, Program Open Space, and Rural Legacy
· $500,000 to enhance Maryland Tourism Development Board activities
· $1 million to implement the new Qualified Workforce Housing Tax Credit for housing projects located within Opportunity Zones
· $1.5 million for the Maryland State Arts Council
Shore Capital Budget Highlights
Somerset County
· $61 million for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy and Health Professions
· $2.1 million in school construction funding for Crisfield Academy and High School
· $2 million for Somers Cove Marina improvements
· $137,000 for the Deal Island Road Water Main Loop
· $300,000 for the Crisfield-Somerset County Airport Hangars
Wicomico County
· $7.6 million in school construction for Beaver Run Elementary School in Salisbury
· $1.3 million for the Delmar Sewer Replacement Project
· $1 million for the Salisbury Animal Health Laboratory replacement
· $1 million in funding for Salisbury Downtown Revitalization
· $945,000 for the Fruitland Tuxents Branch Stormwater Drainage Upgrade
Worcester County
· $2 million for the Ocean City Beach Replenishment and Hurricane Protection Program
· $1.2 million in school construction funding for Pocomoke Middle School
· $1.1 million in Tizzard Island (Chincoteague Bay) Shoreline Enhancements
· $100,000 for Selsey Road Shoreline Enhancements in West Ocean City
· $800,000 for the Atlantic General Hospital Ambulatory Surgical Facility
· $280,000 for the replacement of a registration building at Assateague State Park
· $250,000 to install finger piers for boat slips at Public Landing
· $158,000 towards a new Maryland State Police Barrack in Berlin
· $108,620 for the Ocean City Dog Park