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Montgomery County staff warns revenue write-down tightens state budget calendar, urges council action on nursing home bill
Summary
County intergovernmental staff told the Montgomery County Council a $347 million state revenue write-down has compressed the budget calendar, explained the crossover deadline and asked the Council to consider advocacy steps on stalled nursing-home inspection and related health funding bills.
Council staff briefed members on the status of several state bills and a sharper-than-expected state revenue revision that has compressed the budget calendar.
Kathleen Boucher of Intergovernmental Relations told the Council that, "in terms of timeline, we're a month from the end of session, 4 weeks," and that today was the courtesy day by which committees reporting bills are guaranteed a floor vote by next Monday's crossover date. She warned that bills failing to clear their originating chamber by crossover face a steep procedural barrier to consideration in the opposite chamber.
Boucher also summarized the recent budget developments: the Governor's supplemental budget initially projected what she called "a $100,000,000, surplus for fiscal, 2026," but "the Board of Revenue Estimates came up with its projected write down of, 347,000,000 in revenues." That revision, staff said, pushed the General Assembly behind a typical budget timetable and left subcommittees without scheduled decisions this week.
On health and human services, Leslie Frye told the Council the governor restored about 95% of proposed cuts in the Developmental Disabilities Administration budget for the current fiscal year and restored roughly $150,000,000 for the next fiscal year, but that about $300,000,000 in containment measures remained. Frye also updated members on bills to delegate nursing-home inspection authority to counties, noting the bill would require the Maryland Department of Health to split inspection costs with any county that requests such authority and that the measure had not moved this session.
Councilmember Mink urged the Council to escalate support for the nursing home bill, suggesting a council letter and targeted outreach. Mink asked staff to identify "who the most strategic people to make phone calls to would be, and, how we should think about timeline," citing the compressed legislative calendar.
Staff repeatedly recommended the Council consider targeted advocacy while the session remains active and promised to return with suggested contacts and next steps. The Council adjourned after the staff updates.
