Departing Gov. Parris N. Glendening wants the state to spend $1 billion next year on university buildings, environmental projects and other priorities dear to his heart, according to a capital budget proposal he delivered yesterday to Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

The plan, however, will almost certainly be altered in coming weeks by a new administration seeking to put its imprint on state government.

Glendening said the spending blueprint helps narrow an anticipated $1.2 billion state budget gap for fiscal 2004 by $103 million, because it does not use operating cash for construction projects -- a popular practice when times are flush. Legislative analysts have anticipated such spending in their calculations of budget shortfalls.

"The draft plan fulfills the governor's promise to fully fund school construction and other capital priorities throughout the state," said Chuck Porcari, a Glendening spokesman. "This is part of the governor's overall promise, that when Governor-elect Ehlrich took his oath of office, he would have a balanced budget and a reserve of a half-billion dollars."

Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said yesterday that the governor-elect would review the plan but could not commit to specific projects -- even popular ones such as $150 million for public school construction or $49 million for a new library at Morgan State University.

"It would be irresponsible to make any promises at this stage," Fawell said.

Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer, a Columbia Democrat who heads the Senate Capital Budget Subcommittee, said the Glendening proposal was barely worth discussing, because Ehrlich will create his own version.

"I think it is something that Ehrlich will totally ignore," Kase- meyer said. "I guess 'irrelevant' is the best answer I can give you."

The capital proposal met less resistance than another Glendening budget idea revealed a week ago to include 2 percent employee pay raises in the state's $22 billion operating budget.

The Glendening administration finished negotiations this week with unions over a pay-raise package that would cost $100 million. Leading legislators have said the state can't afford it, and have criticized Glendening for putting Ehrlich in a position where he will have to renege on the commitment, angering workers.

Zachary J. Ramsey, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 92, said the union's negotiating committee accepted the 2 percent offer Wednesday, setting up a ratification vote within two weeks. The largest state workers union represents 35,000 employees.

Those workers deserve raises, Ramsey said, and increases could be affordable despite Maryland's sour fiscal condition. "In other states, they've managed to do this," he said, noting that the departing governor in Wisconsin recently negotiated salary increases despite a budget deficit.

The operating and capital budgets prepared by Glendending will serve more as political statements than policy tools, observers say, because they allow the governor to follow through on commitments even though they might not be enacted.

"There are probably things in there that he supports and he wants to show people he is supporting," Kasemeyer said. "It gives them ammunition to go to Ehrlich."

Glendening included $49 million for the Morgan library after the funding issue exploded in Annapolis this year. After lawmakers cut funds for the library, saying the campus site wasn't ready for construction, hundreds of Morgan students rallied at the State House, closing the campus for a day. Lawmakers pledged that money would be available next year.

Glendening's proposal also includes $15 million for lawmakers to allocate to local projects -- a critical source of funding for many not-for-profit and charitable groups. Lawmakers had cut all money for such projects this year.