Friday, March 29, 2013
The bill that increases the gasoline tax by as much as 20 cents by 2016 now heads to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his signature.
A tax that will increase the cost of gas by as much as 20 cents by 2016 was given final approval Friday by the Maryland Senate. The bill passed largely along party lines by a vote of 27-20. Eight Democrats joined all 12 Republicans in opposing the tax increase measure. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is expected to sign the tax into law. The final vote came after legislators suspended the rules, allowing them to take both a preliminary and final vote in the same day and allow many lawmakers to leave the capital to observe Good Friday. The bill increases the state's tax on gas by more than 20 cents to 43.7 cents per gallon on July 2016. The tax would increase to 44.6 cents per gallon if the federal government …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The battle over a possible hike in the state’s gasoline tax heats up with Maryland House Republicans promising to fight anything that Senate Speaker Mike Miller offers up.
By Leah Villanueva for Capital News Service The Maryland House Republican Caucus said they will fight Senate President Mike Miller's proposal to increase the state gas tax by 3 percent. Miller said the tax hike is necessary to better fund transportation projects in the state.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Additional revenue could fund state transportation projects.
- GOVERNMENT
- Ben Gross
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
While gas prices have been lower since Hurricane Sandy, a Blue Ribbon Commission has recommended increasing taxes on gas to help raise $800 million in annual funding for the Maryland Transportation Trust Fund, according to a recent WTOP story. Each gallon of gasoline carries a $0.235 state tax, a figure that has been level since 1992, but with the transportation fund being raided to help balance the state's budget, lawmakers may consider raising it during the 2013 General Assembly, according to the report. Gus Bauman, who chaired the commission that recommended the increased tax (in addition to upping roads tolls and fares, fees to trains and busses, as well as vehicle registration licensing and titling) told WTOP: "I'm absolutely …
Friday, October 12, 2012
Some Montgomery County Council members recently suggested that a county gas tax be levied to pay for the Purple Line. Do you agree?
The future of the Purple Line, with its $1.9 billion price tag, is far from certain. In fact, many Maryland lawmakers have doubts that the Purple Line will ever be built, due to lack of funds, The Examiner reported: Though state officials hope to get as much as 50 percent of the costs of these projects from the federal government, the state is on the hook for the rest. And with the state's transportation trust fund lacking funds and state lawmakers having rejected proposals to replenish it this year, several Montgomery County lawmakers are nervous that the money will run out in 2015 and the projects will die. But one solution, Montgomery County Council Chair Roger Berliner recently suggested, is for Montgomery County to levy its own gas …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
State funding hurting from gas tax rejection. Future federal funding uncertain until 2015.
The Purple Line, the proposed 16-mile light rail transit system extending from New Carrollton to Bethesda, could be missing one vital component for its progression: funding. With the Maryland budget in crisis and a congressional stalemate over highway funding, the Purple Line’s construction could be pushed back, although several officials interviewed about the project would not predict how long the delay might be. The federal government approved preliminary engineering for the project in October, qualifying it for funding through New Starts, a federal program for new transit projects such as the Purple Line, bringing it a significant step closer to construction. From there, cost estimates and construction schedules could be fine-tuned …
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Del. Eric Luedtke of Burtonsville said a transportation package would get much-needed road projects done in East County.
Legislative leaders on Tuesday introduced Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to apply the state’s 6 percent sales tax to gasoline. Dubbed the “Maryland Transportation Financing and Infrastructure Investment Act of 2012,” the legislation, which O’Malley (D) briefly previewed during his State of the State address on Feb. 1, calls for a three-year phase-in of the tax. The tax “will generate an additional $613 million in revenue to address Maryland’s urgent transportation infrastructure needs and support an estimated 7,500 jobs for Maryland families,” according to a news release from O’Malley’s office. Transportation infrastructure needs include roads, bridges and public transit projects. The proposal could be a tough sell, O’Malley himself …
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Residents of Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties would pay more in either sales or gas taxes to fund transit projects.
Residents of five jurisdictions in Maryland would pay more in sales or gas taxes to fund transit projects under dueling proposals sponsored by two rural Republican state senators. Sens. Richard Colburn and George Edwards are each proposing increases to the sales tax of between one-half to one penny. Edwards has also proposed a more than two percent sales tax on gasoline. All of the proposed taxes would affect only residents of Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The money would go to fund transit projects in the respective jurisdictions. Colburn, a five-term Republican from the Eastern Shore, is proposing increasing the sales tax a full penny to 7 percent in those jurisdictions. The money would…
Christine
4:15 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
I'm sorry, but I could hardly read your comment. Did you forget all your punctuation? It does not support your point of view when you don't even use simple sentences. It makes you sound like you can't write correctly and therefore may not be that bright, regardless of whether you an Einstein or developmentally disabled. more ›