ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ/AP) -- The Maryland General Assembly is convening for its annual 90-day session.

Lawmakers officially gathered at noon on Wednesday as they begin contending with a $1.6 billion budget shortfall.

Pat Warren reports state employees are losing no time in getting their case across.

With a budget the governor plans to balance with cuts alone, state employees are feeling insecure.

"We need to let our legislators know that enough is enough. State employees have been furloughed, we've had inadequate staffing, we're being asked to do more with less," said Greg Currie, correctional officer.

"I've had a reduction in salary, I have an ill mother myself that I am trying to help take care of. I support her in any way I can," said John Compher, DSS employee.

"Many of my employees can't afford to pay for the medicine or to put food on the table, and it's really rough on them," said Mildred Womble, MVA employee. "They're also deciding whether to take their children to the doctor's office or take themselves to the doctor."

The dozens of state employees are trying to reach as many delegates and senators as possible.

Meanwhile, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller says a proposal to raise about $200 million by raising taxes on alcohol in Maryland is "insanity personified."

"We have tough choices to make," said Governor Martin O'Malley.

Those choices include possible revenue raisers.  Marylanders are already talking about the possibility of a gas tax increase.

Miller, D-Calvert, and House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, spoke on the Marc Steiner radio program on WEAA-FM Tuesday before the opening of the Maryland General Assembly's 90-day session.

Miller says he could support a moderate increase on taxes on beer and wine, given the state's $1.6 billion budget shortfall. But he says a proposal floating around Annapolis to raise $200 million goes too far.

Miller says he hasn't seen Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget proposal, but the Senate president says cuts will have to be made to Medicaid, education and the environment.

The most jealously guarded investment the past four years has been education, and with Maryland schools ranking number one in the nation three years in a row, funding cuts there won't go down easy.  Education consumes the lion's share of the state budget, but will still be protected as a priority.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)