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Richard S. Madaleno Jr. was a Maryland budget analyst in 1992 when the last recession rocked the state's ledgers, forcing county seats to return money that Annapolis already had distributed in aid.

"I remember vividly that our anthem for the year was the R.E.M. song, ‘It's the End of the World as We Know It,'" Madaleno said. "It seems that once again that is an appropriate theme song for the upcoming session."

The new recession is erasing tax revenues across the board, requiring budget rewrites and contingencies for dealing with a possible $1.2 billion deficit.

No longer analyzing budget from the staff level, Madaleno is a member of the influential Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

"In the early '90s, there was the feeling that the state targeted the counties and gave them no other option, just said, ‘This is what we're going to do to you,'" said Madaleno, a Kensington Democrat who represents District 18. "I think this year we have to push for a collaborative approach to addressing this problem."

Montgomery County's lobbyist, Melanie Wenger, struck a similar tone: "We can't make changes that prevent us from coming out in decent shape and taking advantage of opportunities when we come out of this mess."

The changes zero in on what has become a frequent target as the Jan. 14 General Assembly session nears: teacher pensions.

Last month, County Executive Isiah Leggett said the county would "draw a line in the sand" to protect the $200 million that Montgomery receives toward teacher pensions. The county has its own deficit hurdle to clear, estimated at $450 million.

It's a recognition that history could repeat itself. During the 1992 recession, the state balanced its books in part by shifting Social Security payments for teachers onto the counties.

Madaleno said he believed the state can balance its budget outside of touching teacher pensions and how the teacher pension system is funded.

"Unfortunately, around here [in Annapolis] there seems to be a tendency by some to immediately target teacher retirement," he said.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach often has said that the counties need to take up at least some of the burden of teacher pension payments, which are based on salaries over which the state has no control. Last month, he pledged to wipe away Leggett's line in the sand.

"The problem with cutting teacher retirement and requiring the local government to make up the difference is that the end result would be local governments firing teachers in order to pay the retirement of other teachers," Madaleno said. "That is an asinine approach to our current situation."

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) will introduce his budget proposal by Jan. 21. Lawmakers must pass it by April 6. They can only cut, not increase, spending.

Madaleno was chosen in November to be chairman of the county's eight-member Senate delegation. He is the third chairman of the delegation since Ida Ruben left the Senate in 2007. She held the position for 18 years.

Madaleno succeeds Sen. Rona E. Kramer (D-Dist. 14) of Olney, who said she believed the delegation would share leadership responsibilities among the members.

When lawmakers aren't pondering the budget, the upcoming session likely will revolve around long-term initiatives, or anything that won't cost money.

Madaleno cited setting five- and 10-year goals for how much of the state's energy would come from renewable sources. He doesn't believe the passage of Proposition 8 in California will spur any changes in gay marriage in Maryland.

And, he was unsure whether the report of commission looking into the death penalty would change any minds. The commission, led by former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti, voted 13-9 to abolish capital punishment. Opponents of the repeal have said the vote hardly shows a consensus.

"On some of these political wedge issues it's very hard to develop new information that moves people," Madaleno said. "In the end, it's necessarily about moving people out of their office and moving new people in that have a different view. And that's not happening until 2010," he said. General Assembly members will be up for re-election in 2010.

Other county lawmakers are considering legislation that would provide a property tax credit for county and municipal employees. Del Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville is sponsoring a bill that would allow the county and municipalities to require a permit to stand on roadsides to solicit donations.

Del. Heather R. Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park wants to make it illegal to evict tenants without just cause. The bill lists 11 causes for eviction, including late rent and breach of lease.

The measure stems from complaints of Takoma Park tenants who say they are forced out of apartments so owners can convert them to condos.

"The more we've worked with tenants in Takoma Park, the more we've learned that there is this undercurrent of fear to report housing code violations, and we want to remove that fear," Mizeur said last month.

The county has its own legislative priorities, and many revolve around money.

The public schools are seeking $114 million in construction and renovation projects, and Montgomery College is asking for $36.5 million for a bioscience education center on the Germantown campus.

Montgomery County also is seeking support for the Corridor Cities Transitway, connecting the Shady Grove Metro Station with upcounty communities, and the Purple Line, which links Bethesda to New Carrollton.

As the former budget analyst moves to help protect county funding, the 1990s aren't providing a blueprint for 2009.

Then, the state eliminated revenue sharing and cut local aid. Since then, local aid has been limited to education, Madaleno said. The state also gave the counties additional taxing authority.

"I can't imagine us giving the local government more authority on the income taxes, because we've already raised income taxes twice over the past year," Madaleno said.