WASHINGTON -- Faced with a faltering economy and what he called the "misguided priorities" of the White House, Gov. Martin O'Malley appealed to Maryland's congressional delegation yesterday for help with homeland security, the Chesapeake Bay and economic development.
He also asked delegation members to block changes in Medicare and Medicaid rules, and to restore proposed cuts that he said threaten Maryland residents who "already are struggling with foreclosures, health-care costs and rising energy bills."
"Last week, the president sent down a budget that had huge reductions to the very things that vulnerable families in these times of economic downturn depend upon," O'Malley, a Democrat, said during the meeting in the Capitol. He asked the delegation to fight cuts in federal work-force development funds and social-services block grants, and to seek increases in career and technical education.
He also asked members to consider funding the expansion of the MARC and Washington Metro rail systems to accommodate the expansion of the state's military bases and upgrades of water treatment plants to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.
"We're a strong state, and we're going to come through this national economic downturn more quickly than other states if we're able to protect our priorities," O'Malley said. "That's what we have set out to do: priorities in public education, public safety, public health, environmental health."
The mostly Democratic delegation was mostly receptive.
"Our first priority for this year is, 'Do no harm,'" Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said. "With the twilight years of the Bush administration here, we will be sure that through their budget or their regulations, they do no harm to the people of Maryland. ... The second [priority] is to continue, as always, to fight for Maryland's fair share."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Montgomery County Democrat, asked O'Malley what sort of money would be needed to meet nutrient-reduction goals for the bay by 2010. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, a Western Maryland Republican, urged the governor to make Maryland a leader in civil defense.
Several delegation members criticized President Bush's budget proposal for fiscal 2009, which boosts defense and homeland security spending but essentially freezes most domestic spending.
"The budget situation that's faced at the state level across the country is dire, and it's not helped at all by the budget that just came from the White House," said Rep. John Sarbanes, a Baltimore County Democrat.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings said O'Malley had "taken a lot of heat for trying to straighten out the state's fiscal situation" and that the delegation would try to boost federal support for the state.
The meeting followed the release of a report tabulating the earmarks inserted by lawmakers in the current budget. Mikulski, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led the Maryland delegation with $289.2 million in co-sponsored earmarks, which ranked 21st in the Senate, and $19.4 million in solo earmarks, according to the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
matthew.brown@baltsun.com