Gov. Larry Hogan and top Democratic lawmakers did not seem to be on the same page at all as the General Assembly prepared to begin its 439th legislative session Wednesday morning.
The General Assembly will tackle a full plate of issues over the next 90 days, but hanging over every decision is an upcoming recommendation by the state’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence to spend billions of dollars on education.
The commission was supposed to have its recommendations ready for this year’s legislative session, but Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. asked the panel to continue working through the fall instead of rushing.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, left, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. speak at a morning forum on the opening day of the 2019 Maryland General Assembly.
Hogan said he was disappointed that Busch and Miller “pulled the plug,” when asked by radio show host Marc Steiner about education funding during the annual Annapolis Summit at the Gov. Calvert House. Hogan, a Republican, went on to say he agrees with most of the commission’s preliminary policy recommendations but noted that it has not come up with funding proposals or ways to generate revenue.