From Friends of David R. Craig:
Harford County Executive David Craig, who announced his candidacy for Maryland Governor early this month, blasted state spending on the heels of a National Governor’s Association Report that shows the general fund rising over twice the national average. Nationally, state general fund spending increased 4.1% on average between fiscal years 2013 and 2014, while Maryland’s surged 8.9%, the fifth-highest increase in the country.
“Politicians have created the conditions where state government now works for itself and grows accordingly, ” said Craig. “This government taxes too much, takes too much, regulates too much and is expanding at the expense of job creators and taxpayers.”
Maryland’s general fund increase is also the highest in the region. Virginia and Delaware spending increases are in line with the national average, while Pennsylvania’s increase of 2.4% comes in at about half the national average and West Virginia’s spending will actually decline by 3.2%.
“Maryland has no future as the tax-and-spend capitol of the mid-Atlantic,” said Craig. “Businesses and jobs will not come, our people will not stay.”
Maryland is going in the opposite direction of other states. The National Governor’s Association notes that overall state spending in fiscal 2013 is still below the fiscal 2008 pre-recession peak. Yet in Maryland, the Governors’ submitted budgets have risen from $29.6 billion in 2007 to $37.3 billion today.
The NGA report examines the general fund, the part of the budget allocated to Maryland’s departments and agencies. Under Maryland’s constitution, the Governor sets fiscal policy and is given wide latitude over the general fund, which comprises the largest portion of state spending followed by federal, special and higher education funds.
Produced in association with state budget officers, the NGA report surveys state spending twice a year and projects fiscal year 2014 spending compared to fiscal year 2013 levels.
Right on Mr. Craig. And we have “Owe-Malley” and his Md. general insane asylum to thank for their ‘achievements’. Maryland citizens really should sue O’Malley for his depraved indifference to fiscal responsibility and common sense. And this man wants to run for president ? Yeah – just what we need.
OWE’Malley and OWE’Bama. Identical twins. Difference~One is National and one is local. Busch and Miller need to go as well. To much control and lost touch with reality. Tax and spend.
Craig you will never be governor! So deal with it.
You are probably correct, however, that doesn’t make his point on the out of control state spending any less valid.
Cdev,
you remain an idiot
Pointing out a fact. Craig is absolutely unelectable. A republican in this state already faces an up hill climb and needs to be a moderate to win. Compound that with Craig essentially making enemies out of teachers and county workers. How many voters in this state do you think will not see the writing on the wall?
It’s interesting that you would be criticizing the current governor, when you both have something in common. O’Malley took money from the teacher’s retirement a few years ago so that he could put it in the General Fund, the following year, the teachers had to forego their pay raise & instead it was put in their retirement fund due to the shortage that was created. Mr. Craig simply allows the teachers to continue in a declining income status and could care less. When the “no increase for teachers” began a few years ago, the Harford Co Sheriff’s Dept was given a 17% pay raise. I will not dispute that it was well deserved. This year, of course there was no money for the teachers; however, all of the county employees got a pay increase. Does Mr. Craig really think he’s going to be governor by shunning teachers???? The spending going on in the State of Maryland right now is going to be an issue just as big as the issue of not spending the money in Harford County!!! Let’s face it………you slapped the teachers in the face, they turned the other cheek & you slapped them again!!
Where do you propose the added money comes from? Property values are way lower then 08, the state share of the budget is decreased. Pension and healthcare costs are up. Where do you want the additional funds to come from?
Maybe the fund to pay teachers needs to be distributed better. Those that earn more should take a decrease to help those that make less.
you are a stupid communist
Want a quality education system? Raise taxes
Don’t want a quality education system? Don’t raise taxes
That simple…
Not true. We already spend more per student then the rest of the world and don’t get the same results.
not true… hcps has one of the lowest per pupil spending in the state
If you are talking on an international scale you forget that the rest of the world does not educate special needs children. A kid with Autism in Many of these countries which out preform us never goes to school. A kid with ADHD would be kicked out after middle school. Special Ed is what drives up our cost and lowers our score on the instrument used for comparison. Locally HCPS spends one of the least amounts per kid and our county chips in a very small amount compared to others!
Actually,
The pay raise we received was the same percentage as the teachers step and cola of last year. I know it must seem a windfall for us, expecting our contracts and steps to be honored as well. I guess we don’t have those love-able kids to hold up as hostages. I for one am just thankful to not have to deal with more furloughs, you know, actually reductions in our salary.
You’re kidding, right??? The teacher salaries have gone DOWN, yes I said down, for the past 5 years…………..and guess what? They’re going down again starting 7/1/13.
Your Kidding right. We had all the same increases in health care and pension costs, many of the taking place a year earlier, in addition to a massive reduction in our workforce through retirements and lay-offs. All this so that for years the school budget could continue to increase. I am sorry that critical thinking or number recognition was not a skill taught in your education classes. Perhaps you should have changed your course of study instead of taking classes in whining and party line towing.
Really? A county employee going to tell me about whining. If you notice, I don’t hide behind a pseudonym. I’m not a teacher & you have no idea what my level of education is or what my major courses of studies were. Before you start slandering, maybe you should know who you’re talking to & not assume……………..we all know what that does!
Mary, not everyone in the Sheriff’s office got a 17% raise. Most got nothing.
To Mary, county employees got a 4% raise in fiscal year 2013 and Obama took back 2%. The teachers got a 1% COLA and a step which is 3%. That in my book equals 4%. So boo hoo for you.
Are you kidding me? The teachers did not get 4% of ANYTHING!!! I’m not sure if you read what I wrote; however, for 5 (five) years the teachers have had declining income & they look forward to another year of the same……….so, now it’s 6 (six)!!!
How much “extra” money would you have if you weren’t in a ‘educators’ union?
Well, Big Squirrel, I AM NOT in ANY educator’s union, I am not an educator & I don’t have the desire to be an educator or in ANY union. Perhaps you should speak about something you know something about!!
“You” was not directed specifically at you, Mary. It was a general question to be observed and answered.
Lame ass.
Membership in union is also a teachers liability insurance. I think that many people forget that there are many reasons to join the union. I personally think liability insurance is a good reason to join.
At this point in time, I think most teachers would rather give up the step increases and COLA in order to get back the positions that were lost. I know that I worry about class sizes in the fall and my ability to handle more than 25 Kindergarten students alone. We can argue until everyone is “blue in the face”, but the bottom line is that kids will be affected this fall. It is not realistic to think any other way. Administrations in the school system are scrambling to figure out how to best use the personnel that they have to meet the needs of the students.
I think what we have to do in this county is decide if the cost of educating our children is important to all of us. I know that my husband and I valued education and moved from the city 29 years ago so that our children could have a better education. This was before we became teachers. What is important to you?
For those same reasons prospective homeowners will now look at other counties because they value education and the recent trend by Harford Co. politicians has not been very supportive.
Mary Pierzchalski:
I am confused! I am a County employee, and have not received a raise what so ever! When did I receive a raise?? The additional 21 million the teachers are asking for, is NOT there either. I don’t disagree that they deserve raises and COLA’s, as do our Police officers and Firemen. Don’t speak about things that are incorrect, just makes you look foolish.
Perhaps you should blame the false information on the Aegis, which is where I read this information. Maybe you didn’t “qualify” for a raise. The teachers have had declining income for the past 5 years………have you???? They arbitrarily dismissed approximately 80 teachers this year & somewhere around the same last year. Did this happen to you???? NO!!!! Now, who’s foolish???
Boo Hoo,
So has every other employee for any agency of the government. Teachers are the only ones to fail to own up to reality and cry constantly.
By the way, explain to me how the budget has increased, enrollment is down system wide, and HCPS still can not come up with any money. I only hope the people doing the complaining are not math teachers or the US will continue to fail in engineering and science.
Candidate Craig: Harford County Public Schools projected to collapse faster than surrounding counties. What a joke, I am all for fiscal responsibility and all but when you are cutting just to cut you end up screwing up a lot of things like education.
Everyone likes to hear CUT TAXES. The problem is nobody thinks about what needs to be cut in order to lower the cost of doing business. Inflation will guarantee that things will cost more next year. When things cost more you must pay your employees more in order to allow them to not lose money. Therefore reality is that taxes will eventually have to go up even if you do not increase programming. The idea is that if everyone makes more money then they can afford to pay a little more in taxes. Not a lot more, a little more. When things cost more due to inflation but you freeze everybody’s pay this distorts the system and small businesses are the ones who will suffer. When 5,000 plus employees have their salaries frozen for four years but gas, groceries and everything else costs more they have less money to spend on small business. My family has cut our spending drastically in order to make up for what we lost in salary. We are surviving, but the businesses that we use to spend money at are no longer receiving my money. Private business thrives when government workers receive a modest increase in pay.
So long dugout Dave, Its going to be fun watching the fall he is going to take. Screw the teachers, screw the county workers, screw the police, guess who is going to get screwed now ?????
Mike,
Oh, oh, oh, let me guess- the people in the state of Maryland- again
Wait for MD spending to quadruple when Craig gets into office and hires everyone he owes favors to at $100K+ apiece. I’d love to see a comparison of jobs over $80K pre- and post-Craig in Harford County. I’m sure it would make you sick. Anyone at the Dagger care to take me up on this?
Thank God he has ZERO chance of winning the election. Save your money, developers, and “donate” to a better cause.