WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett went to Annapolis for the opening of the Maryland legislative session Wednesday armed with a shopping list of budget requests. At the top was a $132.8 million request for school construction projects.

But in a tight budget year, partial successes can look like wins.

Leggett told The Examiner that he has already received a commitment from Gov. Martin O’Malley for at least $55 million of that request, which, if the state’s top executive stays true to his word, “would be a huge success for us,” Leggett said.

“I’ve spent a lot of time lobbying with a tin cup in my hand,” Leggett said Wednesday.

County Superintendent Jerry D. Weast’s Chief of Staff Brian Edwards said Weast would be “very pleased” to see $55 million of his original $132.8 million request.

The county received $52 million in state aid for the current fiscal year — less than half of the original $133.9 million that Weast had requested, Edwards said.

This year is expected to be an especially difficult one for lawmakers. They are reconvening just two months after they ended a special session designed to help close a projected $1.7 billion budget gap.

Also included in the county’s requests for state funding is $37 million for construction projects at Montgomery College. School spokesman Steve Simon said he was encouraged by the request, considering a $60 million price tag for construction of a new science center on its Rockville campus that was delayed last year. The school receives about half of its annual capital-improvement funding from the state; the other half comes from the county.

“It’s encouraging certainly when we’re on the state legislative list for the county,” Simon said.

Leggett said he would also look for commitments for several transportation projects that have long been on the drawing board. Those projects include the Purple Line and the Capital Crescent Trail, though Leggett said there is no price tag accompanying them.

“It’s going to be a very tough fight,” Leggett said.

Budget requests

Projects:

» Purple Line

» Corridor Cities Transitway

» I-270 HOV lanes north of Shady Grove to Frederick County

» I-495 HOV lanes from Virginia to the I-270 West Spur

» MD 355 corridor improvements for National Naval Medical Center

» Rockville District Court: $65.6 million

» Montgomery County Detention Center reuse project: $2 million

» Music venue for Silver Spring Revitalization: $2 million

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com