Capital Budget Subcommittee advances dozens of bond authorizations, reauthorizations and program changes; $45 million shifted from Healthy School Facility Fund

The Capital Budget Subcommittee on Oct. 27 reviewed a decision document and supplemental pages from the Department of Legislative Services and adopted or rejected motions on dozens of general obligation (GO) bond authorizations, preauthorizations, deauthorizations and project-specific funding adjustments.

The meeting opened with Department of Legislative Services staff noting, “You have 5 packets in front of you. The main 1 is the decision document,” and then proceeded page-by-page through the white decision document and a yellow supplemental packet that contained additional items, tally sheets and project-specific language changes. The committee completed consideration of the documents and approved the committee’s decisions by voice vote at the end of the session.

Why it matters: the subcommittee’s actions change the timing or source of money for school construction, court buildings, public-safety facilities, university capital projects and a long list of local miscellaneous grants. Several items included reductions from one funding source with a preauthorization or direction to replace the funds in a future fiscal year.

Key actions and outcomes (votes at a glance)

- Healthy School Facility Fund: The subcommittee approved reducing $45,000,000 in current funding for the Healthy School Facility Fund so remaining funds could be used in fiscal 2027 to extend the program, and added a preauthorization for the 2026 session to replace the $45,000,000 in GO bonds; the agency disagreed with the recommendation but the committee moved to reject the original DLS action and adopt the alternate language as described in the decision packet.

- Supplemental Capital Grant Program (local cost share match language): The committee moved to adopt the additional page amending language for the supplemental capital grant program’s local cost share match and rejected the original DLS recommendation for that item shown in the white packet.

- Access Maryland (Department of Disabilities): DLS recommended and the committee adopted approval of GO bond authorizations for the Access Maryland program; the agency concurred.

- Historic St. Mary’s City Commission: The committee adopted DLS’s recommendation requesting a report on on-site improvements, encumbrances and expenditures; the agency concurred.

- Board of Public Works: The committee adopted the DLS recommendation to approve all GO bond authorizations, preauthorizations and amendments listed for the Board of Public Works; the agency concurred.

- Judiciary — New Supreme Court of Maryland building: The committee adopted a DLS recommendation to reduce current-year funding for the new Supreme Court of Maryland building by $25,000,000 based on a revised schedule, and also adopted a second action to increase the project’s preauthorization for next year by $30,000,000 (bringing the stated preauthorization in the decision document to approximately $111,400,000).

- Catonsville District Court: The subcommittee adopted additional-page language extending the termination dates for GO bond funds originally authorized in 2016 and 2017 for the Catonsville District Court project.

- Military Department — Joint Forces Headquarters: The committee rejected the original DLS recommendation in favor of an additional-page action that authorized about $750,000 to begin design work on a new joint forces headquarters.

- Department of Veterans and Military Families — Crownsville Veterans Cemetery expansion: The committee adopted DLS’s recommendation to approve GO bond authorization for that expansion; the agency concurred.

- Department of Planning — Patterson Center: The committee rejected DLS’s original recommendation and adopted supplemental language extending the termination date for GO bond funds authorized in 2018 for the Patterson Center.

- Department of Information Technology — MD First project: The committee adopted DLS’s recommendation to approve GO bond funding to continue construction of the MD First project; the agency concurred.

- Maryland Department of Transportation and Department of Natural Resources: The committee adopted DLS recommendations to approve authorizations listed for both agencies. For DNR, the committee also adopted a supplemental-page item that used the Waterway Improvement Fund for the Summers Cove Marina bulkhead replacement and facility improvements and included a fiscal 2027 preauthorization.

- Department of Health: The committee adopted DLS recommendations approving authorizations, preauthorizations and amendments listed for the department; the agency concurred.

- Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS): The committee rejected the original DLS recommendation and adopted supplemental-page actions that (1) add $1,000,000 in fiscal 2026 to begin construction of a new life-skills reentry center for women and (2) reduce $46,000,000 in fiscal 2026 for the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center so those funds could be used to start construction in May 2026; the committee also adopted an item that preauthorized an additional $46,000,000 in fiscal 2027 for a total preauthorization figure noted in the packet ($278,000,000 for that project as stated in the supplemental language).

- University projects and higher education system items: The committee considered many higher-education items and adopted a mix of DLS recommendations and supplemental pages, including: a $5,000,000 reduction in GO funding for the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s new School of Social Work (to be replaced from the C fund); an extension of termination dates for UMB’s Central Electric Substation project; a rejected DLS recommendation and adoption of supplemental language that deferred or added funding for University of Maryland College Park projects (DLS’s recommended deferral of $7,500,000 was rejected; the committee adopted a $2,500,000 addition for a new health and human services project complex in the supplemental pages); UMBC design funds for a student services building (supplemental page adopted); Bowie State requests and other university items were resolved as shown in the packet.

- Bowie State University and Morgan State University: DLS recommendations for Bowie State were adopted with an agency request for an additional $8.5 million noted in the record. For Morgan State, the committee adopted a $9,000,000 reallocation from GO funds to special funds (the C fund) as described in the decision document.

- Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD): The committee took several actions summarized in the decision and supplemental pages. Notably, the committee modified a DLS recommendation and adopted supplemental language to fund the Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative at $18,000,000; it also adopted supplemental restrictions and reallocations for the National Capital Strategic Economic Development Fund (including restricting $4,000,000 within that fund for two specified projects), the Strategic Demolition Fund, the Housing Innovation Fund and other program transfers and project-specific restrictions as shown in the additional packet.

- Miscellaneous grants and grantee disagreements: The committee reviewed the governor’s miscellaneous grants and the list of proposed deletions. For multiple individual grantee projects listed in the miscellaneous grants packet (for example Adventist Health New Fort Washington, Baltimore Museum of Art fire suppression, Buoy Mill Bike Trail, Glen Echo Park Spanish Ballroom, Port Discovery Children’s Museum and others), DLS recommended reductions but the grantees disagreed; the committee commonly moved to reject the DLS reductions for those items, as reflected on the green miscellaneous grants tally sheet.

- Local Bond Initiatives (LBIs) and preauthorizations: The committee adopted the LBIs as listed on the blue tally sheet. The committee also adopted a preauthorization of $10,000,000 in GO preauthorization for the Luminess Health Community Medical Center as reflected on the orange tally sheet.

- Final disposition: After considering all pages of the white decision document and the yellow supplemental packet, and after tally-sheet consideration, the committee chair called for a motion on the decisions and the committee approved the decisions by voice vote. The chair concluded the meeting by asking, “All in favor, say aye,” and the committee voiced approval.

What the record shows and what it does not: The decision document and supplemental pages contain the specific project language, funding amounts and termination-date changes adopted or rejected by the committee. The transcript records motions to adopt or reject for individual items and the committee’s final voice approval of the overall decisions. The transcript does not contain a roll-call vote with named yes/no tallies for each motion; where a motion to adopt or reject is recorded in the transcript, the article reports that outcome and notes that the committee approved the package at the end by voice vote.

Next steps: Actions that included preauthorization or reductions to be replaced (for example the $45,000,000 replacement via a 2026 session GO bond authorization) will require future legislative action when those preauthorizations are considered at subsequent sessions or in follow-up hearings. Several items also carried report requests or termination-date extensions that will be reflected in future DLS and agency reports and in subsequent subcommittee or committee records.

Department of Legislative Services staff read the packet and the committee processed the items page-by-page. The meeting concluded after tally-sheet review and a final voice approval of the committee’s decisions.