|
The largest used equipment inventory in the Mid-Atlantic is only a click away. Visit our website by clicking here or visit us at one of our 11 locations throughout MD, DE, VA and PA.
|
 |
Bay Fund gets cut to $25 million
|
The largest used equipment inventory in the Mid-Atlantic is only a click away. Visit our website by clicking here or visit us at one of our 11 locations throughout MD, DE, VA and PA.
|
|
Bay Fund gets cut to $25 million
3.25.2008
By STEPHANIE JORDAN
Associate Editor
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Before the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund gets off the ground to use its monies to help clean up the Bay, legislators have to make a significant cut to it.
Instead of the annual $50 million the fund provides, legislators are cutting it to $25 million. The Maryland Senate has proposed to cut the fund to $25 million for the next two fiscal years and then allow it to go back to $50 million, while the Maryland House asks that it be cut to $25 million for Fiscal Year 2009. That particular debate will be resolved in conference committee.
“The cut is unfortunate,” said Sen. Richard Colburn, R-Dist. 37. He said that the trust fund wasn’t the only area in the state to take a hit — about $330 million had to be cut from the budget statewide, so “everything was on the table for reductions.”
The Senate proposed several other cuts, including: $32 million in funding for the inter-county connector; $10 million in economic development funding; and delaying the purchase of new medivac helicopters. These across-the-board cuts were done to balance the state’s budget, which the Maryland Constitution requires.
The 2010 Trust Fund has been touted as a possible “poster child” for cleaning up the Bay. The General Assembly’s goal with this fund was to take the $50 million that it annually collects and put it toward practices that would have the most impact on the Bay with the least cost.
As the bill was originally written (House Bill 369 and Senate Bill 213, filed jointly), the fund also would hold state agencies and those receiving its monies accountable for progress.
A scientific panel also would advise a BayStat Subcabinet, which would be made up of various secretaries from environment-related departments including agriculture, and would decide who would get funding.