Capital Budget Subcommittee adopts decisions, moves bond authorizations to full committee

The House Appropriations Capital Budget Subcommittee on Tuesday reviewed Department of Legislative Services decision documents and approved a package of general obligation bond authorizations and related changes, moving the subcommittee’s decisions to the full committee for final consideration.

Madeleine Miller, the subcommittee coordinator, opened the meeting and said, “Today we'll be walking through several documents,” before DLS analysts summarized recommendations agency by agency. The subcommittee accepted DLS recommendations on a wide range of items — from judiciary authorizations to university projects — and considered additional yellow/goldenrod pages that add or modify funding on multiple projects.

Why it matters: The subcommittee’s actions advance numerous capital projects and reauthorizations, including higher-education facilities, local public works and housing initiatives, and targeted additions placed on the yellow/goldenrod packets. Those actions set which projects the full committee will consider in the coming week.

Among the notable items the subcommittee moved on were increases and additions included in the additional-page packets: an increase in the de Grange non-public aging schools program authorization from $3.5 million to $5 million and a $1 million set-aside for the Woodburne school; a $5 million addition for an expedited roof repair at the University of Maryland College Park; a $3 million goldenrod addition for graduate student housing at the same campus; $1 million for boiler, chiller and cooling unit replacements and $500,000 for campus safety upgrades at Bowie State University; and a proposed $3 million addition for a Capital Region Medical Center clinic under the University of Maryland Medical System request.

DLS also highlighted program-level adjustments: the Senate’s change to how the $70 million COP priority fund would be split between chambers; a proposed modification to the supplemental capital grant allocation method for school construction; and a reduction described for a waterway improvement fund that reduced $6,056,844 from a prior appropriation. For several projects (for example, some Community Legacy and Seed Community Development items) the subcommittee indicated it would hold decisions for the full committee or the tally-sheet review.

The subcommittee also agreed to hold all governor’s miscellaneous grant projects and related pre-authorizations until the tally sheets were presented together; DLS advised members that three tally sheets (miscellaneous grants projects, miscellaneous grant pre-authorizations, and legislative bond initiative funded projects) would be used to reconcile positions taken by the Senate and the House.

On procedure and outcome: After members moved and seconded the recommended actions, the subcommittee conducted a voice vote. The chair called for those in favor to respond “I,” and then announced, “The ayes have it,” moving the package to the full committee.

Quotations and attribution: Madeleine Miller introduced the process: “Today we'll be walking through several documents.” During closing remarks the vice chair praised the chair’s leadership: “It’s your first session doing the capital budget for the state of Maryland. It’s a multi-billion dollar investment in our state all across the communities.”

What’s next: The subcommittee’s decisions are scheduled to be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee later in the week; miscellaneous grants and the tally-sheet reconciliations remain held until that review. The subcommittee adjourned after the voice vote.