Hogan budget would cut aid to Baltimore, freeze state worker pay, downsize prison, delay hospital

Faced with a half-billion-dollar budget gap, Gov. Larry Hogan is proposing to roll back several programs enacted to help Baltimore recover from the riots of 2015 and to freeze pay for state workers.

The Republican governor would also downsize a major state prison in Hagerstown, delay money for a long-desired hospital in Prince George's County and reduce extra payments into the state's pension system.

New details in Hogan's $43.5 billion spending plan emerged Wednesday, a day after he said the proposal "sounds too good to be true, but it is true." He said it avoided "serious cuts."

Democrats questioned whether Hogan's choices spread the burden of closing the budget gap fairly.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-budget-trims-20170118-story.html