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MD Senate Panel Leaders Back Spending Increases

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Leaders of a Maryland Senate panel that steers state spending say recent changes to the state budget are something the whole General Assembly can support.

Sen. Richard Madaleno, the panel's vice chairman, told a cheering crowd in Annapolis Monday that he expected unanimous votes in both chambers for changes to add more funding to education and to restore a 2-percent cost-of-living adjustment for state employees.

Panel chairman Sen. Edward Kasemeyer said he felt confident Republican Gov. Larry Hogan would also support the changes.

Hogan, who was facing a $750 million budget hole as soon as he entered office, scaled back the funding in his initial budget plan.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously for a budget that makes room for the added education money and state employee pay.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.