Md. Lawmakers Sharpen Pencils For Ehrlich Budget

Md. Lawmakers Sharpen Pencils For Ehrlich Budget
Democrats' Edit of Governor's Plan Will Target Public Construction Funds

By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 5, 2006; Page C12

Democratic leaders in the General Assembly are quietly preparing a major rewrite of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s capital budget, exerting legislative power at a new level and setting up a debate over how to spend state dollars for the construction of public schools, courthouses and university buildings.

Maryland's governor has the strongest budget powers in the nation to craft annual spending plans for day-to-day operations. But lawmakers have considerable latitude to divvy up money for capital projects -- and they plan to exercise that authority this session.

"We're not chopped liver; we're not potted plants. We have a role to play," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert).

What's in and what's out of the capital budget has yet to be determined. But Miller, House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and other leading budget writers sketched out a rough picture
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