There Never Was an “Ehrlich Surplus”

A Year before Leaving Office Ehrlich Demanded Extra Money be spent

“The Governor has already put away that additional money…for fiscal ’08 operations.”

Annapolis, MD –  Under pressure from Maryland General Assembly Democrats to reserve a temporary surplus of cash for a Rainy Day, former Governor Robert Ehrlich insisted in 2006 -  through his budget secretary – that he have unrestricted access to a temporary cash balance so he could cover the structural deficit facing state government in 2007 – ’08. Maryland Republicans have repeatedly and falsely claimed that Ehrlich left a surplus when he was voted out of office and that there was no structural deficit. In fact, the Ehrlich Administration knew there was a serious structural deficit and they wanted to spend the temporary cash balance to fill that growing gap.

Nearly a year before leaving office, Ehrlich’s Budget Secretary Cecelia Januszkiewicz made the point very clear before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee:

Question from Sen. Ulysses Currie:   “…would you not suggest we put away some additional money?” 

Answer from Budget Secretary Cecilia Januszkiewicz:  “The Governor has already put away that additional money, put it in the Dedicated Purposes Account. He put 670 million dollars away to be used for fiscal ’08 operations which we know we will need and you know we will need. It’s not a surprise. It’s not a trick. We all know we will need that money for next year's operations."

Sen. Currie:

“It’s my understanding the Dedicated Purpose Account is for specific functions, for a specific purpose, a specific cause – here this money, we’re putting this money into the Rainy Day Fund for, to use in the General Fund?” 

Secretary Januszkiewicz:

“We’ve put the money in the Dedicated Purposes Account and we dedicated it to a specific purpose – fiscal ’08 operations. Uh, that’s the specific purpose it’s going to be used for.”

“There never was a surplus because Bob Ehrlich already spent it” said Quincey Gamble, Executive Director of the Maryland Democratic Party. “Instead of putting that money into a savings account Ehrlich insisted that money be put into a checking account to pay for the structural deficit he never fixed. Those are the facts despite what Bob Ehrlich and his fellow Republicans have repeatedly claimed.” 

To this day Ehrlich continues to mislead people by claiming he left the state with a surplus and without a structural deficit. A live interview on WMAR-TV broadcast on November 1, 2007 – 2 days ago – reveals his intent to deceive

WMAR-TV – ABC Channel 2 - Thursday, November 1, 2007

News Anchor Brian Wood: “Is it true that when you left that we were in a surplus?” 

Robert Ehrlich: “Of course. In fact, we had a billion dollar surplus and we had a billion four in the Rainy Day Fund.

Brian Wood: “Did you know that that money was going to go away quickly…that we were going to end up in a projected deficit?” 

Robert Ehrlich: “Well, that was a year ago. Of course not. Of course not. In fact, thank you for your good reporting by Mary Beth and all that…”

“Deception exposed is never an attractive spectacle. But now we have strong leadership in Governor Martin O’Malley who, along with President Mike Miller and Speaker Michael Busch, is working openly and honestly to solve the structural deficit for the future of Maryland,” says Gamble. “Mr. Ehrlich knew full well he never solved the structural deficit and he knew he was going to spend the temporary cash balance. The Republicans continue to mislead the people of Maryland about Ehrlich’s failures and the serious fiscal issue we still face because the former Governor failed to provide decisive leadership.”