Subcommittee hears systemwide capital needs as universities warn deferred maintenance is growing

Chair Malcolm Ruff convened the Capital Budget Subcommittee and opened a series of fiscal 2027 capital presentations, saying the panel was holding its likely final hearing of the legislative session. Sarah Baker, legislative analyst for the Department of Legislative Services, presented the DLS capital analysis for the University System of Maryland office and its campuses.

Baker said the USM office packet included two system-office projects — the Caldwell Center and annual facility renewal — and detailed several budget adjustments. She told the subcommittee the capital budget would deauthorize FY2022 funds for the cancelled Challenger Center at Frostburg State and would repurpose $1,000,000 in general-obligation bonds originally authorized for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) toward demolition of Nettle Halls. Baker also recommended repurposing $3,100,000 in GEO funding, originally authorized for campus flood mitigation, to pay for emergency electrical switchgear replacement, noting, “The switchgear is…