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Legislative audit faults DBED in four areas
A legislative audit released Tuesday found that the state’s Department of Business and Economic Development was deficient in four areas, including one that was pointed out in a 2008 report. The Department of Legislative Services started its audit in October 2007 and ended in November 2010. The audit team found that DBED did not require […]
Lawmakers hear judges’ case for higher pay
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s 284 judges are in desperate need of a raise, Court of Appeals Judge Clayton Greene Jr. told the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday. Greene testified in support of a resolution to raise all judicial salaries by $29,000 over the next four years — up to 23 percent for some by 2016 — and […]
Counties struggling to meet education funding goals
ANNAPOLIS — As counties struggle to meet their education funding requirements under the state’s maintenance of effort program, legislators wonder if shifting teacher pension costs under Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget plan would make a difference. The topic came up during a briefing on maintenance of effort funds and K-12 education held Friday afternoon jointly by […]
Sharfstein commits to fixing DDA problems
ANNAPOLIS — A flawed, outdated and ineffective method of accounting is why the state Developmental Disabilities Administration discovered $33 million in unspent funds, and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary Joshua Sharfstein said the agency is committed to fixing those problems. Testifying Tuesday before the House Appropriations Committee, Sharfstein, whose department oversees the[...]
Top 5 Eye on Annapolis posts of the year
The themes that emerged in 2011 were largely standard fare in Annapolis and the Maryland business community — malfeasance by those who serve in government, big initiatives to support biotech and high-tech companies, high hopes for gambling to ease the state’s fiscal woes and politicians (mostly Democrats) jockeying for a share of the spotlight as […]
Maryland pension system earned 20% in 2011
ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland pension system had a good year in fiscal 2011, earning 20 percent on its investments, up from 14 percent in 2010 and giving it $37.6 billion in assets. But the Maryland system did not perform as well as most large pension systems around the country, showing earnings worse than four out […]
Maryland casinos short of minority business goal
Minority businesses played a larger role in building and outfitting Maryland’s two casinos than previously reported, but their participation still fell well short of the goals set by the state. An audit released Friday by the Department of Legislative Services faulted the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs for overlooking some and miscalculating other payments made […]
Even with tax hikes, transit funds lacking
ANNAPOLIS — A proposal to raise nearly $900 million a year more to spend on Maryland’s transportation needs would fall billions short of goals to pay for three major transit lines and support local projects and other initiatives, state budget analysts said Thursday. That forecast came packaged with a wide range of gloomy fiscal projections […]
Maryland credit rating, day three
The credit rating front has been quieter Wednesday with Maryland officials believing any Standard & Poor’s rating action will not come soon, if at all. Here are some of the things that didn’t quite make the stories in the dead-tree editions as the state held its breath, waiting for an S&P downgrade and then when […]
Top 5: ‘You got to let us be heard’
Middle East residents expressed their anger Thursday night at a presentation from East Baltimore Development Inc. and Ravens games may be a little trickier to get into this year. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5. 1. 15 Maryland nonprofits receive $10,000 grants – by Alissa Gulin It pays to make a […]
Audit faults UB for lax financial controls
State auditors criticized the University of Baltimore for lax financial controls and spotty student record keeping. The audit, released by the Department of Legislative Services on Monday, raised issues with grade changes, unpaid student bills and the potential for mismanagement of large school contracts. In that case, auditors wrote UB did not use all the […]
State health care committee to meet in Annapolis
ANNAPOLIS — A Maryland health care reform committee is meeting this week in Annapolis. Monday’s meeting of the Health Care Reform Coordinating Council will be the first meeting of 2011 and its ninth meeting overall. The meeting will be led by Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who co-chairs the committee along with Joshua Sharfstein, Maryland’s secretary […]
