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University of
Maryland College Park
Office of Executive Programs |
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Newswire Week 14 (12/30-01/05) |
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LOCAL |
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Delegation To Push State To Deliver on School Funds
The Washington Post _ January 02, 2003, Thursday http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64688-2003Jan1.html |
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Prince
George's agenda for the upcoming Maryland General Assembly can be summed up
in one word: education. The
county will be fighting hard to hold the state to promises made during the
two-term administration of outgoing Gov. Parris Glendening (D). Those include
$35 million a year for new school construction and $36.9 million -- above and
beyond state aid the county already receives -- under the so-called Thornton
Commission for equity in education. If fully funded, the Thornton sums would
jump to $108.7 million the following year, $176.7 million the year after, and
$763.2 million over the final two of the six-year commitment. Both
capital and Thornton funds are considered vital for the state's second-largest
system -- with 135,000 students, surpassed only by Montgomery County -- and
the second-lowest test scores, after Baltimore City. But the state schools
capital improvement office has already slashed the county's allotment for new
school construction to $4.7 million. Moreover,
with the incoming governor, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., facing a $1.75
billion budget shortfall, Thornton funding could also be vulnerable. |
St. Mary's Asks Go-Ahead To Borrow $24.5 Million
The Washington Post _ January 02, 2003, Thursday http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56724-2002Dec30.html |
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School
construction has top billing on St. Mary's County's list of legislative
priorities for the upcoming General Assembly session. However, with dim
prospects for full funding from the state, county commissioners are banking
more on public facilities bonds to fund their key projects. Commissioners
are requesting authority from the General Assembly to borrow up to $24.5
million to construct, improve and develop public facilities during fiscal
2004 and 2005. The
money would be designated to cover the county's share of funding for projects
already underway, including Board of Education projects such as the $23.6
million renovation of the James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in
Leonardtown and the $23.4 million renovation and addition to Margaret Brent
Middle School in Helen. But the
bond request, formulated under the previous Board of County Commissioners,
has raised some questions from the state delegation about whether the
spending priorities of the county warrant the significant increase in debt.
The bonds also would pay for various park, highway and county building
projects. |
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Transfer Tax Could Rise
to Aid Howard Schools The Washington Post _ January 03, 2003, Friday http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3963-2003Jan2.html |
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Faced with burgeoning student
enrollment, escalating school
construction costs and a cash-strapped state government,
Howard County Executive James N. Robey (D) is considering asking the state
legislature to increase the county's transfer tax. If approved, the measure would
increase the tax a half-percent to 1.5 percent and generate an additional $
10 million a year for school
construction, according to a draft of Robey's proposal. It
comes as his administration is considering the board of education's
largest-ever capital spending plan, an $ 86.3 million request for next fiscal
year, which is about $ 31 million more than the school system received last
year. The transfer tax is imposed every time a property is sold. Currently
the revenue it generates -- about $ 20 million a year -- is divided among
various county departments, including education. But money raised through the
increase would be dedicated solely for school
construction. |
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NATIONAL |
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Rate of new construction surprises U.S. analysts: Record-setting November
Financial Post _ January 4, 2003 Saturday http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost |
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U.S.
spending on new construction rose in November, boosted by continued gains in
residential housing and greater outlays for road and school construction. |
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ACROSS THE NATION |
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Connecticut |
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In budget crunch, Rowland
would pay less for school projects The Associated Press State & Local Wire _ January 01,
2003, Wednesday http://wire.ap.org/public_pages/WirePortal.pcgi/us_portal.html |
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Gov. John G. Rowland wants the
state to pay a smaller share of municipal school-construction projects, a move that would save
the state hundreds of millions of dollars. The change would push more of the school construction costs on
cities and towns. As part of a plan to lower the state's bonded debt, Rowland
is asking the General Assembly to reduce reimbursement rates on new school
projects by 10 percentage points for three years, from 2004 to 2006. The
Republican governor's plan also would postpone hundreds of millions of
dollars of approved school projects. In addition, the governor is
seeking cancellation of $111 million in non-school projects slated to be
built in the next few years, including $9.5 million earmarked for an access
road to promote development of Rentschler Field in East Hartford. State law requires the governor
and General Assembly to limit borrowing when tax revenues drop. As the
economy has weakened, the cap on bonding has forced officials to scale back,
delay or cancel many projects. |
Articles compiled by Sujin
Bae
Graduate assistant for the School
Construction Funding Project
Van
Munching Hall University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1821