GOVERNOR O’MALLEY ISSUES STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO ZANDI BRIEFING

Zandi cites investments in education and infrastructure as keys to attract businesses, address income disparities

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- Governor O’Malley issued the following statement in response to a Budget and Tax Committee briefing by Mark Zandi, a former chief economist for U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and current Chief Economist for Moody's Analytics. During the briefing, Zandi provided analysis of the State’s economy and necessary actions to address widening income gaps for Maryland families.

On State and local priorities:

“I often counsel State and local government to be more focused on improving more broadly the factors of production: educational attainment of population, infrastructure of state’s economy, things that will benefit all industries…”

On infrastructure:

"I’d focus on infrastructure, because that lowers the cost of doing business. It will create more jobs, and it will be very helpful for the economy. If we can’t, in a time when we have a 6.7% unemployment rate, and interest rates are at 3%, and we can’t invest in infrastructure...when are we going to do it? I mean, come on, this is the time to do it. I think I can put my finger on a map and the road, or the bridge, or the dam, or the airport, or the port that’s sitting there...I can give them a dollar and i’ll get more than a dollar in return."

Governor O’Malley has this to say in response:

“With the budget introduced to the General Assembly last week, we continued our fiscally-responsible, balanced approach to navigating the effects of the worst recession since the Great depression. Together, we’ve cut $9.1 billion in state spending even as we made record investments in K-12 education, held the cost of tuition to the lowest levels in the nation, and called for the largest investment in transportation in modern Maryland history.

“Mr. Zandi’s analysis confirms what we already know: because of the better choices we’ve made as a State, we’ve paved the way to a stronger 21st century economy. And we’re better positioned as a State to raise the minimum wage.”