Maryland's Democratic leaders have waved a white flag on a measure that would have shifted some teacher pension costs onto counties.

The democratic leaders of the state House and Senate — who three weeks ago said they supported passing a cost shift this year — say they are now looking to future legislative sessions for that change.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Michael E. Busch are tweaking their platforms after Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed a budget that deliberately excludes the pension shift.

Miller, D-Calvert and Prince George's counties, called O'Malley's budget "moderate" during a panel discussion at the University of Maryland on Monday and said the governor "punted on pensions."

"Next year we're going to have to look at that issue very closely because in two more years our pension [costs] for teachers will be higher than what we pay for all of higher education," he said.

Ballooning teacher pensions will cost Maryland roughly $924 million in fiscal 2011, up from $348 million in 2002.

Local governments won't be able to absorb more pension costs on top of $62 million cuts to state aid included in O'Malley's fiscal 2012 budget, Busch said Monday.

"It's a very tough sell for the General Assembly to take that initiative on by itself without an impetus from the governor," said Busch, D-Anne Arundel County.

Maryland is one of three states that fully pays for teacher pensions, instead of sharing the cost with local school boards — which have the power to increase teachers' salaries and benefits.

"It's a very tough sell for the General Assembly to take that initiative on by itself without an impetus from the governor," said Busch, D-Anne Arundel County.

Maryland is one of three states that fully pays for teacher pensions, instead of sharing the cost with local boards of education — which have the power to increase teachers' salaries and benefits.