We didn’t get our job done last night.
When midnight struck, we had passed the budget, but it has a gaping hole
A revenue bill, which raised $240 million to prevent cuts in K-12 education and Medicaid, did not pass.
The reason why – a 6th slots site in Prince Georges County.
This was the highest priority of the Senate President.
The Speaker of the House was a reluctant supporter of more slots. He wanted the budget and revenue bills to be passed before the slots legislation was debated.
Each house was waiting for the other to take action on its most important issue.
That didn’t happen. The slots and the revenue bills failed.
Governing is about making tough decisions – weighing competing interests and balancing opposing views.
It’s not about gloating.
“Great ending. Session falls apart no income tax increase. Spending increase cut in half,” tweeted of my Republican colleagues.
We will pass the tax increase at a special session and avoid those cuts in services.
But we should have done so last night.
—
Personally, I had a very good session. I’ll be sending you my annual summary in a few days.
