–The following article has been submitted by the Office of District 7 state Senator J.B Jenning–
Secretary Helene Grady of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) rescinded the budget transfer meant to expedite the hiring of laid-off federal employees.
Senator J.B. Jennings had voiced his opposition to this hypocritical funding decision and is pleased to have received a communication directly from the Secretary regarding her decision to rescind Budget Amendment 077-25, which would have transferred $30,000 from the Dedicated Purpose Account (DPA) to support Governor Wes Moore’s expedited hiring program for former federal employees:
“I appreciate DBM’s decision to withdraw this amendment. At a time when the State is offering $20,000 buyouts to long-serving employees and implementing a hiring freeze due to our budget crisis, it is unconscionable to continue siphoning public dollars into a program that has shown minimal results. Since February, only 17 of 251 hires came through the expedited hiring initiative. Nearly $1.97 million of the original $2 million appropriation remains unused,” stated Senator Jennings.
The Senator sits on the Budget and Taxation Committee and led the discussion in suggesting that the Governor consider a hiring freeze to alleviate the FY26 budget deficit. This transfer announced after the session ended and the budget was finalized drew the Senator’s particular concern given that agencies have been told not to fill vacancies.
Ironically, DBM was preparing to bring on two part-time contractors with these funds. The contradiction was too stark to ignore. On July 17, Senator Jennings formally raised these concerns in a letter to Secretary Helene Grady of DBM.
The Senator requested clarification on how this initiative aligned with state cost-saving measures, what evaluation metrics were in place, and whether the funds would be better allocated toward mitigating the deficit.
On July 29, DBM formally notified the Legislative Policy Committee that it was rescinding Budget Amendment 077-25. In their letter, DBM acknowledged the hiring freeze and confirmed that further waves of the hiring initiative are now on hold.
“Maryland’s working families deserve better than mixed messages and misplaced spending,” Senator Jennings added.
“This rescission is a small step in the right direction toward restoring fiscal discipline and accountability.” The following pages include the letters exchanged between DLS and Senator J.B. Jennings:
