GOV. PARRIS N. Glendening certainly is intent on going out in style. Unfortunately, it's his own style.

In his final weeks - as he leaves office with a projected budget deficit of $1.8 billion - Mr. Glendening is angling to increase that shortfall by $100 million by promising pay raises to about 36,000 state employees. It's hard not to see his motivations as mostly about politics, not good policy.

From that standpoint, the proposed pay hikes are a lovely thing, at once further cementing Mr. Glendening's ties to organized labor and enabling him to stick it to Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who will be the state's first Republican governor in 36 years and who has now been put in the position of denying state workers more money.

Given the self-serving pension deal Mr. Glendening cut for himself when he left the Prince George's County executive's office eight years ago and his more recent aborted stab at getting himself anointed chancellor of the University System of Maryland, it's reasonable to wonder whether there's some sort of potential payoff awaiting the governor in his next life.

Short of that, adding significantly to the state's deficit right now is simply irresponsible. It makes a mockery of Mr. Glendening's November promise to Mr. Ehrlich that he'd close the state's budget gap for this fiscal year before leaving office - a promise still unkept. It also tars by association another Glendening last-minute initiative - a worthy, much less costly opportunity to preserve almost 25,000 acres of Eastern Shore forest.

The good news here is that state legislative leaders see the proposed pay raise for what it is - and are rejecting it. But then again, to do otherwise would make no sense.

After the November election, Governor-elect Ehrlich called Mr. Glendening "a class act." We wish we agreed. It's now just about a month until he leaves office. Until then, the least he could do for the citizens of Maryland is not work so hard at making matters worse.