The Lt. Governor also spoke about the Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council which he co-chairs.  Through his leadership, Lt. Governor Brown has aggressively led our efforts to apply for and win many large competitive grants through the Affordable Care Act.

Showing the Flag, on his Head

Maryland's own Lester Salamon, internationally renown expert on non-profits, will discuss latest data about nonprofits and the economy.

Join Director Eric Brenner of the Governor's Grants Offce for this free, one-hour webinar as he again hosts Dr. Lester Salamon, an expert on non-profit organizations' effect on economies.  Dr. Salamon is a Professor at Johns Hopkins University and Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.  He will present data from his recent major study of how non-profits are faring during this economic downturn, the greatest since the Depression.  Dr. Salamon will share some of his recent findings on non-profit jobs, revenues, and impacts on the economy.

Governor Martin O'Malley recently announced that Maryland has won a $1 million award from the Complete College America Innovation Challenge.

A New Way to Do Business in Maryland: Benefit Corporations

Emphasis is not only on the bottom line of profit, but also on the bottom line of social responsibility.

The O'Malley-Brown Administration recently partnered with State Senator Jamie Raskin, Maryland Delegate Sheila Hixson and other elected officials throughout Maryland to make our state the first state in the nation to launch an innovative new type of corporation called a Benefit Corporation. Since then, four more states have followed Maryland's lead to pass their own Benefit Corporation laws, and we expect many more will do the same in the coming years.

 

There was some question whether this report would be issues again this year as there continues to be an increased emphasis on using USASpending.gov as the single website for researching all federal spending.  While mandated by federal law (Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, or FFATA), the USASpending site still is more difficult to navigate than the Recovery.gov website that tracks federal funds that were spent as part of the Recovery Act.

 

To avoid future duplication on reporting of federal funds, federal officials thought about reducing the federal spending reporting role of the Census Bureau, but at least for this year its CFFR appears to be unchanged in style from past years.

 

Of immediate interest to Maryland, federal grants received for FFY 2010 is reported at $14.4 billion, a slight decrease from $14.9 billion in FFY 2009.  These figures include federal grants received directly by local governments, non-profits, and research universities, not just the federal grants that first go to Maryland state government.  The drop in Maryland mirrors the drop in overall grant funds for the entire nation.  Federal procurement also dropped a bit in Maryland during FFY 2010 ($26.5 billion, down from $27.4 billion in FFY 2009) but salaries and wages in Maryland actually increased ($15.0 billion, up from $13.2 billion in FFY 2009). Both of these trends (procurement dropping and salaries/wages increasing) reflect national trends.

 

As is always the case when new federal spending data is released, additional analysis is warranted, particularly because the figures in the CFFR can not be duplicated from figures available at USASpending.gov.

Some Upcoming Events

Governor's Criminal Justice Training Conference

Foundation Center Networking Night,

Maryland Department of Aging