Maryland to thaw freeze on public university tuition

With Maryland facing a $2 billion shortfall next year, O'Malley said in-state students should expect only "a slight increase" in tuition, perhaps about 3 percent. But his decision to curtail a signature initiative during an election year spoke volumes about the larger challenges facing the state because of the recession.

"It's a major concession on the part of the governor," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), adding that he was certain O'Malley would have liked to continue the tuition freeze for another year. "It's been good policy and great politics."

O'Malley's disclosure, first made public on a radio show, came just hours before the 427th session of the Maryland General Assembly convened at noon. An opening day traditionally marked by ceremony and receptions took on a more somber tone, with lawmakers bracing for next week's budget proposal by O'Malley.

The end of the tuition freeze is just one of many difficult aspects of a budget expected to include layoffs and cuts in health care and social services, as well as continued reductions in road maintenance and other state assistance to local governments.