It’s good to be the person who spreads good news. 

               At a budget briefing, I sat next to a staffer who made very few such calls this week.  He did share some good news with me before the Governor told the rest of the group.  There’s $12.4 million in the budget for stem cell research, a $2 million increase.

                I later told the advocates who were our likely supporters on the budget subcommittees that will vote on this funding.   

               Now that I’m on the Ways and Means Committee, my focus won’t be the budget but the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, fondly known as the BRFA.

               It contains the changes in funding formulas for state aid to Baltimore City and the 23 counties, as well as subsidies  for the horseracing industry. 

 January 21, 2011