Land preservation, local projects face ax

Senate ready to trim O'Malley's capital budget

The state Senate is poised to take a bite out of Gov. Martin O'Malley's environmental priorities by cutting money available next year for land preservation.

The Senate also is headed toward eliminating bond bills for local projects in fiscal 2012 and 2013, and using the money for public school construction instead.

Final approval on both measures, part of the $3 billion fiscal 2011 capital budget, could come as early as today.

"These are very difficult, difficult times," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert. "Everybody has got a pet hobbyhorse and some of us are going to have to subjugate our views to the common good."

The Senate version of the capital budget cuts $17.6 million from the Rural Legacy Program, $11.8 million from the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program and the entire $10 million from the state land-acquisition share of Program Open Space. Open space money for local governments will not be affected.

Sen. Ed DeGrange, D-Glen Burnie and chairman of the Senate's capital budget subcommittee, said the moves would not affect any purchases already in place. The money was shifted to projects that can spur immediate employment with "bricks-and-mortar" work, he said.

"It is our way of trying to help build some jobs," DeGrange said. "I feel very strongly about … getting the money moving."

O'Malley frequently has defended the use of money to buy land even during the recent budget troubles, emphasizing that purchases made now ensure that nature is saved for future generations. According to the state, the Board of Public Works has voted to spend $36.6 million and preserve 629 acres in Anne Arundel County since January 2007.

Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for O'Malley, said the administration would have liked to continue preservation efforts. But he noted that many priorities have taken a hit during the recession.

"We are pretty proud of the record so far," he said. "That is the nature of the process."

Kelly Carneal, director of rural lands for the environmental group 1,000 Friends of Maryland, said the cuts will hurt the state's ability to leverage federal and private funds. She said that land preservation, in addition to boosting the Chesapeake Bay's health, is an opportunity to boost tourism and create jobs with recreation centers.

"There are huge economic benefits," she said.

Alison Prost of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said the cuts are another "shortsighted action," in line with the Senate decision to decrease money for bay and energy-efficiency projects.

"It is only going to get more expensive to buy property when the market recovers," she said. "It is going to have a crippling effect in total."

The Senate also yesterday accepted an amendment from Sen. Katherine Klausmeier, D-Baltimore County, that would eliminate local projects called "bond bills" in fiscal 2012 and 2013, and use the money for public school construction.

This year, O'Malley included $15 million, split between the House and Senate, for the bond bills that help fund local government and nonprofit projects. The bills typically require the group receiving the money to match the state portion with either money or equity.

The Senate has set aside $250,000 for the Reece Road Community Health Center in Severn and $200,000 for the Coordinating Center for Home and Community Care Building Facilities in Millersville.

DeGrange said that although the Senate will reassess whether bond bills will be possible next year, the economic problems of the state limit where money can go.

"I think many of us … didn't want to do them this year," he said.

Eliminating bond bills for those two years would also be another blow to the nascent Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts at Park Place in Annapolis.

The group behind the Taylor Avenue project has failed to get a bond bill so far this year in the face of opposition from the nearby Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and concerns about committing the state to a costly enterprise.

Other local projects in the Senate's version of the capital budget include:

• $8.25 million for construction and renovation at the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis, split between 2011 and 2012.
• $3.5 million for renovations and additions to the Anne Arundel Community College library.
• $409,000 for water tower improvements at the Jessup Correctional Complex.
• $324,000 for water tower improvements and $100,000 for the relocation of a Department of Natural Resources communications center in Sandy Point State Park.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to finalize its work on the capital budget on Friday. Any differences between the House and Senate proposals would have to be hashed out in a conference committee.