Analyst Dissects Tactics O’Malley Used To Balance Md. Budget, Including Pension Cut

Picking apart Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed fiscal 2015 budget, the legislature’s chief fiscal analyst told lawmakers Monday that the administration relied on “familiar budget balancing strategies” to make the numbers work.

According to the fiscal briefing by chief analyst Warren Deschenaux, these tactics in O’Malley’s final spending plan included:

• leaving a fund balance cushion of only $30 million, far too small to cover unexpected spending, known as deficiencies. Deficiencies have averaged $145 million in recent years;

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