Hogan’s budget is good news for local projects

Hogan’s budget also:

• Completes renovations at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, home of the Shorebirds, with a price tag of $580,000.
• Pays $4.9 million of an $18.1 million total cost toward the replacement of the state’s Animal Health Laboratory on Nanticoke Road.
• Extends Salisbury’s sewer lines out Mount Hermon Road to two houses within city limits at a cost of $471,000.
• Provides $471,000 toward the environmental site design of Salisbury’s City Service Center at Isabella and Lake streets.
• Adds lighting to the Mason-Dixon Sports Complex in Delmar for $104,000.
• Constructs a new bulkhead and pier at Cedar Hill Marina for $99,000.
• Kicks in $2 million toward the $10 million cost of building a new Delmar Elementary.
• Provides the final $3.7 million in state funding toward the $28.6 million West Salisbury Elementary and $2.5 million toward the $42 million Showell Elementary project.
• Funds $450,000 in renovations at the day-use bathhouse at Assateague State Park in Berlin and $500,000 in bathhouse renovations at Pocomoke River State Park’s Shad Landing.
• Shores up portions of the Deal Island coastline, providing $1.2 million.
• Continues construction of the J.M. Tawes Technology Center in Westover, with a $13 million infusion toward the $42 million price tag.
• Provides $17.5 million for renovations at Guerrieri University Center and Maggs Natatorium at Salisbury University.
• Cleans mold problems and fixes the heating and air-conditioning system at Deer’s Head Hospital in Salisbury at a cost of $1.6 million.
• Includes $87,659 for the Somerset County Impact Scholarship at Wor-Wic Community College.

Hogan’s budget drew praise from Delegate Mary Beth Carozza, who called it a “strong, solid” document that’s “good for the Shore and all of Maryland” and “keeps Maryland on a sound fiscal course.”

The document includes $6.5 billion for kindergarten through 12th grade education, “beyond the required statutory funding formulas;” $365 million for school construction, the largest investment in a decade; $11.5 billion for Maryland’s Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to nearly 1.4 million Marylanders; and an additional $13.7 million to fight the heroin and opioid crisis in combination with nearly $160 million for substance abuse programs, Carozza said.

In a news release she listed Shore funding items that include:

• $2 million for the Ocean City Beach Replenishment and Hurricane Protection program.
• $1.3 million for Atlantic General Hospital inpatient care renovation.
• $171,453 for the Joan W. Jenkins Behavioral Health Treatment Center expansion in West Ocean City.
• $1.2 million for the Three Lower Counties Community Services for a new OB-GYN building.
• $4.5 million for the Eastern Correctional Institution wastewater treatment plant upgrade, $320,000 for ECI water towers and $115,000 for co-generation plant upgrades.
• $1.5 million for the Janis Island State Park cabin replacement and site work.
• $1.2 million for Deal Island shoreline improvements.

Hogan did not propose new taxes or fees and held to 2 percent tuition growth at Maryland’s public four-year institutions, Carozza said, adding she appreciates him including the second $10 million installment of $50 million to fight the heroin and opioid epidemic.

Carozza said the budget has an all-time high of $21.7 million for the Maryland State Arts Council and $178.1 million in highway user revenue funds...