February 16th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

Governor Larry Hogan today submitted a $1.59 billion supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2022, including additional resources to support the safe reopening of schools.

“This supplemental budget provides further support for the safe reopening of Maryland schools,” said Governor Hogan. “I want to commend all the teachers, administrators, parents, and public health officials who are doing everything they can to give Maryland students the chance to get back in the classrooms safely.”

Highlights of the $1.59 billion supplemental budget include:

• $931 million in funding for local school systems in support and targeted assistance for the safe reopening of public schools.
• $434 million in additional funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Pandemic EBT program.
• $128 million to support the state’s Child Care Scholarship program, including almost $60 million to help support licensed child care providers recover from the impact of the pandemic.
• $35 million from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund to support the safe reopening of nonpublic schools.
• $20 million from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund to support community colleges, private institutions of higher education, and competitive innovation grants.

In addition, the supplemental budget provides $9 million to support local health departments and $1 million for Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development to support the Maryland Housing Counseling Fund.

The supplemental budget is submitted to the legislature as an amendment to the governor’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022, which provides a record $7.5 billion for K-12 education, above and beyond the legislature’s funding formulas.

• For the sixth consecutive year, Governor Hogan’s education budget exceeds statutory funding formulas to ensure that every jurisdiction receives more direct education aid than in the prior year. In FY 2022, $213.7 million is provided in hold-harmless grants to ensure every jurisdiction receives more direct aid than in FY 2021 regardless of fluctuations in enrollment.
• The FY 2022 budget includes $375 million in funding to support the third year of the “Hogan Lockbox” to ensure that Video Lottery Terminal revenue supplements education funding consistent with the constitutional amendment passed by Maryland voters.
• The FY 2022 budget includes $151 million to continue a successful tutoring program implemented in FY 2021 to assist students most at risk of learning loss.
• The FY 2022 budget also includes $53 million to expand full-day pre-Kindergarten for every 4-year-old in the state, and $10 million to expand the highly successful Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) program, which provides scholarships for some students who are eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program to attend eligible nonpublic schools.
• The FY 2022 capital budget includes a record $833 million for school construction projects in every jurisdiction, including the first year of an initiative to invest $3.6 billion in school construction over the next five years.
• The FY 2022 budget makes record investments in the community college network across Maryland. Under the Hogan administration, funding per student at the community colleges has grown by 57%.
• For the sixth year in a row, tuition growth at state colleges and universities will be limited to 2%.