After the Senate passed a capital budget without two $700,000 grants for athletic facility improvements at Annapolis and South River high schools, a House committee Friday proposed restoring the money -- and then some.
The Senate's move to strip the grants miffed some Anne Arundel County lawmakers, including House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Sen. John Astle. Busch is running for re-election in District 30A, which includes Annapolis High. Astle is running for re-election in a redrawn District 30 that includes both South River and Annapolis high schools.
But a House subcommittee Friday recommended $3.5 million for the two high schools, and the Appropriations Committee adopted the funding levels - a $2.25 million grant for Annapolis High and a $1.25 million grant for South River.
A House-Senate conference committee will likely be tasked next week with working out the differences between the two proposed capital budgets. Differences must be worked out by the final day of the General Assembly's 90-day session April 7.
Busch said he "felt, considering the actions the Senate took," that the House should propose more than the amount the Senate rejected so the two schools would get at least the $700,000 allotted for each of the two grants in Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed capital budget.
"Obviously the Senate doesn't see things the way we do," Busch said. "You don't know what's going to happen in a conference committee. I felt it best (we propose more). That's what negotiations are all about. We just want to make sure the citizens of District 30, Annapolis and South River get the full attention in the capital budget they deserve."
Earlier this week when the Senate removed the two separate grants, Sen. Ed DeGrange, D-Glen Burnie, said the move came because funding for turf fields at public schools isn't typically included in capital budget.
DeGrange, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee's capital budget subcommittee, said the money should have been asked for in bond bills.
But Busch called out Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, and DeGrange, saying the move was "disrespectful" to Astle. Busch vowed the grants would be restored in the House.
DeGrange Friday stood by his stance that "it is Senate policy" not to fund projects in the capital budget like ones planned at South River and Annapolis.
DeGrange said he wouldn't comment on Busch's claim that the Senate's move was disrespectful to Astle.
"I'm not even going to... talk about (Busch's) comments," DeGrange said.
Astle said Friday he's hopeful a conference committee will include the cash for the projects.
"This whole thing's going to a conference committee, which is some place I don't have any stick," Astle said. "The big boys will decide what they're going to do. And they're going to come back to us and what we get is what we get."
