Hixson, Kramer want to use part of sales tax for Metro

Dedicating less than a penny to mass transit would raise $175 million

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006

by Thomas Dennison

Staff Writer

ANNAPOLIS — Legislation dedicating $175 million to Maryland’s mass transit system has been proposed by two Montgomery County lawmakers.

The measure would set aside one-quarter of one cent of the state sales tax for mass transit, generating $175 million for rail and bus funding when fully implemented over three years. A similar bill has won support in the House of Delegates in past sessions, but stalled in the Senate because of long-term fiscal concerns.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Sheila Ellis Hixson and Sen. Rona E. Kramer, the lead sponsors of the bill, said Maryland needs dedicated funding for mass transit. Also, $1.5 billion in federal aid would be available — through legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) — if Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., pass legislation ensuring a dedicated revenue stream for mass transit.

‘‘What this does is send a message that Maryland is serious about funding for Metro,” said Hixson (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring.

She promised to sponsor the bill at a breakfast meeting held by the Greater Washington Board of Trade in Beltsville on Monday.

Andrew J. Scott, a lobbyist for the Board of Trade, commended Hixson and Kramer (D-Dist. 14) of Olney.

‘‘We appreciate that they recognize the funding needs of Metro, but what’s good about their proposal is it takes a statewide approach,” he said Tuesday.

Maryland is unique in that it has two major mass transit systems — one in the D.C. region and one in Baltimore. The systems are funded through the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which is same pot of money that pays for roads and bridges.

Using a portion of the sales tax for mass transit is not new. In 2000, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., a Democrat, proposed dedicating a penny of the state’s sales tax to mass transit over 10 years. That measure failed, and some Senate leaders are predicting that the same fate awaits the Hixson bill if it passes the House.

Senate Budget and Taxation Chairman Ulysses Currie (D-Dist. 25) of Forestville said he worries about redirecting a portion of the sales tax, which represents a significant portion of the state’s general fund, to mass transit. Higher education, health care and other priorities could be affected if some of the general fund is reallocated.

‘‘We have to figure this out without causing problems with all the other programs in the general fund,” said Budget and Taxation Vice Chairman P.J. Hogan (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village.

Kramer and Hixson conceded that it will be a tough battle to get a bill through the Senate this year.

The Ehrlich administration is expected to have reservations about the bill, but when Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan was a member of the House of Delegates in 2000, he voted for Taylor’s bill.