You win some and you lose some.

I’m talking about the Governor’s supplemental budget, not the baseball season.

There’s money for expanded services for the mentally ill but no money for the Race to the Tots grant program for pre-Kindergarten classes.

Shortly after the Newtown shootings last December, I met with advocates for the mentally ill.

“We don’t want the discussion in Annapolis to be limited to when the mentally ill should be denied guns,” I said.

We decided to introduce legislation outlining the unmet needs for services, the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Safety Net Act of 2013.

Three items from this bill were included in today’s budget: expanded crisis response services, crisis intervention teams, and mental health first aid.

The proposed appropriation is $3.5 million.

My bill was not the only factor that prompted the Governor to increase these vital services, but it played a part.

Race to the Tots, on the other hand, was not funded.  However, we’ve already begun strategizing on how to make a better and more effective case for next year’s budget.