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With state and local governments pinching pennies and imposing travel restrictions in a tight budget year, attendance likely will be lighter than usual at summertime political gatherings in Maryland and beyond.

The Maryland Municipal League is expecting a slight drop-off in numbers at its 2009 convention, which begins Sunday in Ocean City. Last year's conference drew a record 1,800, and this year's crowd is expected to exceed 1,700, said MML Executive Director Scott A. Hancock.

Elected officials and staff from 124 of Maryland's 157 cities and towns will be on hand, and the number of vendors planning to set up exhibits was holding strong, as of Monday, at 226 — only seven fewer than last year's record total, he said. Sponsorship revenues have surprisingly increased from about $15,000 last year to approximately $25,000 this year, Hancock added.

"The value of the opportunities that are available at the MML conference have been recognized to the point that I've heard people say, ‘I can't afford not to come to MML's conference,'" Hancock said, pointing to workshops on applying for federal stimulus dollars and budgeting in difficult fiscal times, as well as the chance to network with state officials and municipal counterparts.

"These conferences give people the opportunity to pick the brain of individuals who are doing the exact same job, but somewhere else, be it across the state or their next-door neighbor," he added. "I think people are hungry for ideas."

Organizers of the 33rd annual J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake also are anticipating a smaller crowd for the July 15 event.

Some Maryland politicos make the annual pilgrimage to the distant Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield for what has become the state's premier political gabfest.

Two years ago, a record 6,200 people came from as far as California to take part in the crab-cracking, beer-swilling and oyster-shucking revelry, said Valerie A. Howard, executive director of the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the event.

Last year, the crowd was down to 5,700. This year, Howard hopes to break 5,200.

"We actually have had people call who said, ‘Leave us on the mailing list, but we can't afford to come this year,'" she said, adding that several businesses that have rented hospitality tents in the past have declined to do so this year.

Ticket prices will remain at $40 for the all-you-can-eat feast. Proceeds are filtered back into the local community. "There may be a little less to work with this year, but we still make a good enough profit where we can afford to donate back to the town," Howard said.

It's still too early to project the turnout for the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in mid-August, said executive director Michael Sanderson.

But he anticipates counties and vendors will scale back the number of people who have come to the three-day Ocean City affair in previous years. "Our last two conferences have basically been gangbusters," Sanderson said. "This year, I don't think we're going to reach that height."

With many states having either outright banned travel for lawmakers, capped the number of attendees or limited out-of-state trips only to those who serve in organizational leadership roles, the National Conference of State Legislatures expects attendance to plummet at next month's summit in Philadelphia.

After attracting a record 9,000 to its conference in Boston two years ago, this year's crowd is projected at only 5,500, said Michelle C. Blackston, NCSL's director of media and public affairs.

Some states allow lawmakers to use campaign funds for such trips — Maryland law only allows campaign funds to be used in limited circumstances when the program deals specifically with campaigns and candidacy, said the state election board's Jared DeMarinis — but others who wish to attend are left to pay out of their own pockets.

The biggest drop-off expected is in the number of legislative staff, which usually comprises a large percentage of conference-goers, Blackston said. The cost for the five-day program ranges from $500 to $625, depending on the date of registration.

Typically, NCSL draws 300 exhibitors. This year, there are a bit more than 250, a 15 percent drop.

Conference organizers have eliminated a lot of the conference's "bells and whistles" — extraneous offerings such as high-definition, large-screen displays that were supplied in stronger economic times, she added.