Revenue slump eases in Md.; Turnaround expected before fiscal year ends, state budget officials say
For the first time in more than two years, state budget officials reported that tax revenue had stopped falling significantly faster than expected and, in fact, would probably begin growing again by the end of the current budget year.</br></br>"I don't want to jinx us," said Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), "but I'm hoping the days of massive write-downs are behind us."</br></br>The state's latest forecast -- $77 million less in tax revenue than projected -- represents a loss about one-tenth the size of those in each of Maryland's previous four quarterly reports, and it amounts to a fraction of the $3.2 billion in combined revenue write-downs since last December.</br></br>It was good news, but it also laid bare the treacherous course that Maryland and other states have to climb to escape the effects of the recession.</br></br>After using furloughs instead of widespread layoffs and one-time cost cuts instead of the wholesale elimination of programs, Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state's Democratic-controlled General Assembly face a projected budget gap of nearly $2 billion in the coming fiscal year -- a shortfall as big as at any point since the recession began.