Maryland Delegate Tells Hard-Pressed Seniors Budget Cuts Are Coming

Delegate Steve DeBoy had to face his mother when telling a group of seniors the state would need to make spending cuts that could affect those on fixed incomes.

The Democrat from Arbutus represents citizens from Elkridge, Arbutus, Catonsville, Relay and parts of Ellicott City, where his mother, Dorothy Silver, lives in a community for retirees. Silver joined 15 women at the for an update from her son about spending at the state level in Annapolis.

“Experts say the recession has ended, but we’re all still tightening our belts,” said DeBoy, whose audience consisted mainly of those living on fixed incomes. “To eliminate $650 million of the state’s $1.5 billion structural deficit in the next three years, we’re going to have to make cuts."

One cut made in Howard County last year has had a profound effect on seniors. In 2010, the county slashed more than $4 million from its transportation budget.

“Regular bus fare for seniors went from 50 cents to $1, going into effect July 1, 2010,” said Alexandra King of the Howard County Government’s Office of Public Information. In addition, effective July 1, 2010, riders were responsible for paying the full $2.50 fare if they wanted to use HT Ride, a special service for people with disabilities. She said, “A number of Howard County residents were [previously] allowed to ride for half fare or no fare.”

Jeanne Slater, director of the Elkridge Senior Center, told DeBoy during his March 22 presentation that increased bus fares are a major issue for seniors. “We had quite a few in my area that qualified for free rides, so now it’s $5 round-trip, which is a financial hardship for people living on Medicare,” she said.

Slater told Patch that roughly two-thirds of those who used to frequent the senior center can no longer get there because of the fare hike. "I've seen a drop in attendance and a drop in ridership," she said, "because people simply can't afford it."

DeBoy said the government has been forced to tighten its purse strings because of a decline in tax revenue. “The state gets most of our tax revenue from the transfer tax when you sell a home, alcohol tax, sales tax and the lottery,” he told the group. The big moneymaker—the transfer tax—is still in a lull, according to DeBoy, who said homes in his Arbutus neighborhood have been sitting on the market for months.

“There’s all this talk of raising the alcohol tax and raising the gas tax,” he said, to make up for the lost revenue, “but I don’t think we can do those things when we’re in a recovery mode. People’s personal finances have to get back in order, so I won’t support those things.”

DeBoy said he is supporting programs to raise revenue, including co-sponsoring a bill to allow video lottery machines in the Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport.

“[Delgate] Jimmy [Malone] and I work very closely to try to bring dollars back to the district,” he said. In Elkridge, “we’re trying to build a , we’re looking to do maybe a new library, senior center—these things are all in the planning phases.”

According to DeBoy, the state is being creative with funds. “We haven’t laid off a teacher in Maryland,” he said. “In the school system, there will be movement of people but they’re still going to have a job.”

He said he’s even stopped working so others could keep their jobs. “I asked the budget secretary in a budget meeting, ‘If we didn’t take furloughs this year, how many people would you have to lay off?’ I was told we would have to lay off 4,000 employees,” said DeBoy, who took eight furlough days in 2010. “If we’ve got to take some furloughs, we take furloughs.”

But DeBoy said that Maryland’s $1.5 billion deficit pales in comparison to other states’ budget woes. “Illinois’ is $8 billion, Wisconsin’s is $4 billion, New Jersey’s is $9 or $10 billion—so they’ve got to make some brutal decisions.

“Quality of life is good here,” said DeBoy, “but it costs to pay for that.”

DeBoy said the delegates debate the budget challenges starting Wednesday and will vote on Friday, when they will pass their proposal on to the Senate.

At least one in the audience offered what could have been a bit of fiscal advice to state lawmakers.

Polly Thornton of Elkridge said she was living on a pension of $237 a month and had never missed a bill payment. “I know how to live frugally,” she said.