During a joint hearing of the House Appropriations, House Ways and Means, and Senate Budget and Taxation Committees today, Maryland Chamber Vice President of Government Affairs Ron Wineholt urged lawmakers to restrain State spending.

“Fewer new taxes would be needed if greater spending restraint is exercised and less revenues lost through the new spending proposals,” Wineholt said.

The Chamber supports the Governor’s proposal to freeze the per pupil foundation amount of education aid for two years and replace the implicit price deflator with a CPI adjustment beginning in FY 2011. “We believe that this is a reasonable cost containment measure to help close the State’s structural deficit,” he said.

Wineholt also encouraged lawmakers to consider additional cuts. For more details on the specific cuts, view Wineholt’s written testimony here.