ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland board approved $148.3 million in state spending reductions on Wednesday to balance the budget while directing more money to pay for child care and Medicaid — two priorities that Democratic Gov.

Wes Moore's administration hopes will help improve a stagnant state economy. The Board of Public Works, which Moore chairs, made cuts across a variety of state agencies to address larger-than-expected demand for Medicaid and a state child care program. The board, which also includes Treasurer Dereck Davis and Comptroller Brooke Lierman, can cut up to 25% of the state's operating budget when the Legislature isn't in session.

“While it’s never ideal, the reductions that we are advancing today are necessary to ensure that our fiscal stability is going to be sound and to create long-term economic growth for our state," Moore said. The governor emphasized that most of the cuts were spread among state agencies. He said that when he took office 18 months ago, his staff realized that the state's economy had been stagnant for a decade and that “Maryland's business model was broken.

” “That’s not politics, that’s math," Moore said. "You cannot have something that continues to watch budgets increase but where you’re continuing to watch an economy stay flat.” The need for the spending adjustments arose because of larger-than-projected participation in a state program to help pay for child care and higher-than-expected retention of Medicaid part.