Maryland Gov.-elect Wes Moore vows ‘disciplined’ approach to requests for more than $2B in spending

剑桥 - 马里兰州州长韦斯·摩尔（Wes Moore），不到两周就进入办公室ambitious agenda和异常冲洗政府支出帐户，在收到他所说的内容之后，正在尝试管理期望，这是国家资助的空前数量。

The incoming Democratic governor said state officials have received requests totaling more than $2 billion — more than seven times greater than the total requested in other recent years — for projects outside government that would like to receive taxpayer-funded support in the state budget plan due later this month.

“Maryland’s treasury cannot responsibly accommodate all the funding requests that have come in if we are going to fulfill the primary obligations of state government,” Moore said in a speech Thursday night to hundreds of attendees at the Maryland Association of Counties’ winter conference in Cambridge. “My administration’s commitment to support the needs of communities that have been long neglected has not, and it will not, waver. … But we must also be clear-eyed about the future.”

Stressing a “murky” economic outlook that could include a recession, Moore said the state should “maintain robust reserves.”

官员们在9月宣布了20亿美元的盈余，摩尔说这激发了要求的涌入。雨天基金中还有近30亿美元的额外$ 30亿美元。同时，上个月官员降低了2024财政年度的州收入预测，理由是资本收入收入减少，某些税收收集的停滞预测以及联邦大流行有关的援助的结束。

“People see a surplus number and it’s exciting. Everyone understands that,” Moore said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun after his speech. “But we have to understand that we’re talking about a one-time budget that will not repeat itself next year. So, we’re going to have to be disciplined.”

The first-time elected official said he and his team are taking steps to determine whether each request is effective, is fiscally responsible and fits with the upcoming administration’s long-term goals.他还说，这一过程不是“基于优惠或忠诚”。

His comments come three weeks afterRepublican Gov. Larry Hogan publicly urged the new administration to budget with caution。At the same time, Hogan recommended hundreds of millions of dollars in potential projects.

Moore, in the interview, said he appreciated Hogan’s recommendations, but emphasized that “we have a responsibility to be honest and transparent” about the economic outlook.

Asked whether there were items on Hogan’s list that he would support in the budget, Moore didn’t answer directly, but brought up the $100 million toward behavioral health services that the outgoing Republican proposed.

“Elements of behavioral health, for example, have been ignored over the past eight years, and I’m thankful for the fact that the governor now thinks that we should put money into something that has not had resources put into it for a while,” Moore said.

霍根（Hogan）发言人迈克尔·里奇（Michael Ricci）回应摩尔的评论，他说，政府在过渡期间涉及摩尔的团队参加预算过程，他指出了9.96亿美元，旨在去年霍根（Hogan）预算中旨在精神健康和药物使用障碍。其中包括用于药物使用障碍服务的近3亿美元，用于无保险人的精神健康和药物使用治疗约2.3亿美元，并向当地行为卫生当局提供500万美元的赠款。

Moore, for his part, offered few hints about specific projects for which he’ll seek funding — and he declined to say how much of the billions in reserves he intends to keep there. His budget is due Jan. 20, just two days after the inauguration.

尽管如此，他还是重申了一些长期的竞选承诺，这些承诺可能需要大量投资。结束童年的贫困和解决公共安全问题的问题仍然是最高目标。他说，清洁能源和幼儿教育仍然是国家资源的优先事项。

“We are going to be bold. But being bold does not mean being reckless,” he said.

One specific program he said will be reflected in the budget is his year-of-service initiative. The idea, another top campaign pitch, is to offer all Maryland high school graduates a paid year of public service.

With state agencies facing a historic number of vacant or eliminated positions, Moore also said he’s working on ways to incentivize recruitment and retention of public employees. He has argued the budget surplus is partially due to positions not being filled.

As of November, there were nearly 11,000 vacant or eliminated positions, according to recent figures from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3. The union, the largest for state workers,recently announced a new agreement与霍根政府协商，将约2％的国家预算盈余用于招募和留住工人，尽管工会领导人称合同中的工资增加“不足”。

摩尔强调了护士以及公共安全官员，是他关心的公共雇员劳动力的例子。

他说：“对任何人来说，较小的假释和缓刑官员）对犯罪和公共安全产生了重大影响。”“您有没有受到监控的人，因为那里没有人来监视他们。”

Moore will negotiate the budget with legislators, who return Wednesday to Annapolis for their annual 90-day legislative session. The Democratic supermajorities in the General Assembly are largely expected to have similar priorities as the new governor, but legislators also will have new authority this year to shift money around in the governor’s budget.

摩尔说，他期待与他们合作。同时，他说，他将继续通过预算请求进行除草的审议过程 - 其中一些绕过了官方文书工作，而是通过电子邮件发送了直接转发给他的资金。

“We owe it to every single Marylander to be able to make sure there is a real process,” Moore said. “There is a high bar. And it’s going to be an immovable bar. And, frankly, it’s going to be a different standard than I think the state is used to seeing.”