|   Weather   |   Traffic   |   Contact Us   |   Mobile
Follow us:



 
ADVANCED
SEARCH>>










ADVERTISEMENTS
RECENTLY POSTED JOBS
See all>




TOP JOBS
See all>
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Delicious
Share
E-mail this article
E-mail
Leave a Comment
Comment
Print this Article
Print
advertisement

@$:Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said last week that he favors a super-majority vote in the legislature to transfer transportation money to other uses rather than a constitutional amendment that would keep the money off limits for other purposes.

The issue surfaced recently with talk of a possible gas tax increase to fund transportation projects, which the General Assembly could address in its upcoming session.

Transportation advocates and some business leaders have said they could support a gas tax increase to bolster the state’s depleted Transportation Trust Fund, but with the provision that a firewall be erected so the money only could be used for needed transportation infrastructure projects.

The members of a blue-ribbon committee charged with studying Maryland’s transportation funding recommended this month an increase in the state’s 23.5-cent-per-gallon gas tax to fund needed transportation projects.

It also recommended the legislature pass a constitutional amendment to ensure money slated for transportation uses not be transferred to other uses, except in the case of a declared emergency.

The commission’s chairman, Gus Bauman, on Thursday said his preference is for a constitutional amendment.

However, Bauman, an attorney from Silver Spring, called Miller’s proposal “a great first step in terms of protecting the Transportation Trust Fund.”

@$:Miller also said he thinks any proposal for a gas tax hike should come from Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).

“This is going to be the governor’s initiative,” Miller said Nov. 16. “It’s going to be the governor’s responsibility to get it passed.”

Bauman noted a gas tax hike coming from O’Malley would signal the importance of the initiative.

“If it has the weight of the governor behind it, that sends a powerful message to the Senate and House,” he said.

@$:O’Malley is considering whether to introduce a bill to raise the gas tax, his spokeswoman said.

“He said he would consider [a tax] and we are,” Raquel Guillory said. “We haven’t committed to doing it one way or another. Beyond that we’re not there.”

As called for by Miller, a super-majority vote requires the consent of three-fifths of the 47 members of the Senate and the 141 members of the House of Delegates.

Such a provision would help allay potential fear on the part of voters that money collected from a hike in the gas tax would go to fund projects other than those aimed at improving Maryland’s transportation system and infrastructure, Miller said.

Some polls have shown voters don’t support a hike in the gas tax. In addition, the trucking industry has raised concerns that its members can’t afford an increase.

Miller said he believes a gas tax hike is necessary to pay for badly needed transportation projects in Maryland and to create the jobs that would result from those projects.

The blue-ribbon commission recommended the governor and General Assembly raise the gas tax by 5 cents annually during the next three fiscal years to stabilize and expand the state’s transportation program

Such a hike — along with increases in several other transportation-related fees — would raise $870 million in new revenue annually for transportation projects, the commission report states. Boosting the gas tax alone would raise an estimated $491 million annually, according to the report.

The report also cites instances during the years in which governors and legislatures transferred money from the Transportation Trust Fund to the state’s general fund. Those transfers include $100 million in the current fiscal year, $60 million of which went to the general fund and $40 million to the Rainy Day Fund.

Miller said last week that a constitutional amendment, which also would require the approval of voters, might hamstring future governors in transferring money in emergency situations.

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce would support Miller’s proposal, said Alyson Black, the group’s vice president of government affairs.

The chamber has long supported a hike in the gas tax as long as it comes with a guarantee that transportation money not be transferred to other uses, Black said.

Although the chamber would prefer a constitutional amendment, the group understands that getting such an amendment passed likely would be “an uphill battle,” Black said.

Lon Anderson, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s managing director for public and government affairs and a member of the blue-ribbon committee, also called Miller’s proposal a good initial step. However, he added he was concerned that Democratic majorities in the two chambers would make gaining a super-majority vote relatively easy for legislative leaders.

The Senate’s leading Republican dismissed Miller’s proposal as “a marketing gimmick” designed to help smooth the way for an unpopular tax hike.

“You have to view this as a general fund tax increase,” said Senate Minority Leader. E.J. Pipkin (R-Dist. 36), of Elkton.

He added he thinks some of the revenue collected from an increase in the gas tax eventually would be used to fund expensive mass transit projects that are used by a minority of urban-area Marylanders, as opposed to road improvement projects in Maryland’s rural areas.

In this year’s legislative session, Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown proposed legislation to raise the gas tax by 10 cents and protect the trust fund through a constitutional amendment. That bill failed.