Bill would add about 18 cents at current prices

by Bill Gates

    The bill submitted by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley last week adding the state 6 percent sales tax to gasoline purchases has been called “almost dead” by a local legislator.
    “If not already dead,” Del. Michael Weir Jr. said on Friday. “The governor’s budget dropped with a thud. The increases proposed by the governor are outrageous.”
   

The proposed bill, called the “Maryland Transportation and Infrastructure Investment Act of 2012,” was introduced on Feb. 14.
    It would phase in the six percent sales tax on gas purchases over three years, adding two percent per year.
    The sales tax would be applied to the price of gas before state and federal taxes are added. Currently, Maryland’s gas tax is 23.5 cents per gallon.
    The new tax is intended to raise $163 million, to be used for repairs and maintenance of the state’s transportation infrastructure.
    The Governor’s office also estimates it will create 7,500 new jobs.
    “I, personally, do not think it will pass,” Del. Joseph “Sonny” Minnick (6th District) said. “Too many legislators are upset over this issue.
    “The Senate president [Mike Miller] is pushing it, so it could pass in the Senate. But [House Speaker Michael] Busch is not that enthusiastic about it.”
    Del. John Olszewski Jr. (6th District), who also opposes the bill, pointed out that adding sales tax to gasoline would make it higher than the original proposed increase to the state gas tax.
    “They were talking about raising the gas tax by 10, 15 cents,” Olszewski said. “Adding the six percent sales tax to a gallon of gas would raise the price by 18 cents.
    “I’ve learned to never give a bill zero percent chance of passing. But the prospects are very, very dim for this bill.”
    The bill does include language that will temporarily freeze the tax increase if there is a dramatic rise in gasoline prices, as well as restrictions on transferring money out of the state Transportation Trust Fund for other purposes.
    They likely won’t help the bill pass.
    “Support for the bill is nowhere to be found right now,” Weir said.