Cuts to horses, stem cells raise Ehrlich’s dander

Friday, Feb. 10, 2006

At this stage, lawmakers are airing only a handful of cuts, and one of them is $10 million in purse and breeding enhancements for horse breeders.

Horseracing lobbyists — in concert with the Ehrlich administration — are beginning to work behind the scenes to preserve the money, which was included in the governor’s budget.

Legislative analysts are recommending that the $10 million be eliminated, prompting Ehrlich officials to decry politics.

‘‘News of the cuts spread through the horseracing community like wildfire,” said Paul E. Schurick, the governor’s communications director. ‘‘These people are suffering. This is money that props them up for one year, and for the legislature to cut it would be outrageous.”

Dennis C. McCoy, a lobbyist for the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, said he and other horseracing advocates are working to protect the money.

Another target is stem cell research, where Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his Democratic foes in the legislature have competing proposals. Ehrlich wants to give a one-time $20 million boost to Maryland Technology Development Corp., or Tedco. That money would be used to support promising research. Tedco is a quasi-public institution that helps high-tech companies get off the ground.

Democratic lawmakers want to spend $25 million a year and direct the money to embryonic stem cell research. Conservatives object to the plan because the research can lead to the destruction of embryos, making it tantamount to abortion. But supporters say embryonic stem cell research offers potentially valuable lines of study.

Ehrlich’s plan would let Tedco decide where to put the state’s money, in embryonic stem cell research or less controversial adult stem cell research.

The Department of Legislative Services, which issues budget recommendations to lawmakers, has suggested cutting the governor’s stem cell allocation in half. The analysts also say the General Assembly should pass legislation specifying how the money should be used.

Ehrlich’s $20 million stem cell proposal makes up 95 percent of Tedco’s fiscal 2007 increase. The spending plan proposes the organization go from $4.8 million to about $25.9 million.

Schurick immediately shifted the debate to politics in questioning whether Democrats cared about stem cell research.

‘‘They either support stem cell research or they don’t,” he said. ‘‘The governor stepped up on this issue, and the Democrats want to use this like a political beach ball.”

But legislators do not foresee a contentious budget season.

‘‘There’s a lot of money. Everyone likes to spend it. The governor has proven himself to be the biggest spender in the history of Maryland,” said Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

‘‘And in the middle of an election year, I don’t think there’s a desire on the part of either party to rein him in,” said Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington.