New Revenue Estimates Cut Size Of Md Budget Deficit

//JW's Desknote: Hmmm, employment growth leads to higher state revenue. And what led to employment growth? Not entitlements, but small business empowerment and tax breaks for consumers and small businesses perhaps?//JW sends.

WBAL Radio and The Associated Press:

Good news about Maryland's budget deficit.

The General Assembly's fiscal advisers said today that lawmakers will be facing a budget hole of less than 400 million dollars when they begin next year's legislative session.

That's down from the projected one billion-dollar deficit lawmakers thought they would be facing.

Warren Deschenaux is director of the legislature's Office of Policy Analysis. He says employment growth that resulted in higher tax collections is primarily responsible for the big improvement in the state's fiscal condition.

The improvement began in the fiscal year that ended in June and is expected to continue through the current fiscal year and into fiscal 2006.