Just 25 days after it was introduced, the Maryland Senate enacted the first gas tax hike in 21 years, sending the governor a 10 to 12 cent per gallon increase by 2015. The bill calls for the tax to go even higher — it will rise automatically in future years.
The vote on House Bill 1515 was 27-20, with eight Democrats joining all 12 Republicans opposing what Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin wanted to rename “The Gas Tax Job Killer Act of 2013.”
Pipkin resides in Elkton, Md. near the Delaware line. Elkton and the remainder of Cecil County, Md. have dealt with jobless rates that are higher than counties near the thriving Washington, D.C. area.
The gas tax increase is likely to send more drivers near the Delaware line to the First State, which has no gas tax bill before the General Assembly. In Delaware, the Department of Transportation is making plans to delay future highway projects.
Instead Maryland Democrats stuck with the title Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013, saying that the estimated $2 billion it would raise over the next five years will help bolster Maryland’s depleted Transportation Trust Fund. The money would be used to build and maintain roads and transit systems, including three new major transit lines, if federal money comes through.
Click on the link below for the full story from Len Lazarick of the Maryland Reporter.
via Major gas tax hike sent to governor by Maryland Senate – MarylandReporter.com.
