Appropriations Committee reviews DGS fiscal 2026 budget; procurement, grants and State Center relocation draw scrutiny

The Appropriations Committee heard a detailed review of the Department of General Services' (DGS) proposed fiscal 2026 operating budget and ongoing operational issues, including procurement delays tied to the eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (EMA) system, rollout problems with a new grants management system, staffing shortfalls in the Office of State Procurement, and remaining costs from the canceled State Center redevelopment.

David Propert, an analyst with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS), told the committee that the DGS fiscal 2026 allowance would increase by $32,100,000, or 18.3 percent, to $207,300,000. Propert said the increase reflects a mix of operating and capital items that currently sit in the operating budget, including $15,000,000 in PAYGo funding for TradePoint Atlantic's container terminal and $10,000,000 placed in DGS's operating budget for a new IONQ headquarters in College Park; DLS recommends those amounts be shifted into the capital budget.

The budget review highlighted lingering data gaps in procurement performance metrics. "There have been no managing for results data for the percentage of large procurements completed within 90 days since fiscal '21," Propert said, attributing the missing metric to data integrity problems arising from the transition to EMA. He noted the Office of State Procurement (OSP) aims to complete 80 percent of large procurements (those over $100,000) within 90 days but that the data have been unavailable.

Secretary, Department of General Services, responding for the agency, acknowledged implementation issues with EMA and other IT initiatives but described a multi-pronged approach. On OSP staffing, the secretary said, "These 12 positions, within OSP are critically needed as part of the Moore Miller administration's efforts to reform and streamline procurement operations across the state." He told the committee that seven of the 12 positions were filled and the remaining vacancies were actively…