Health & Fitness
Change Maryland Cites Dysfunctional Transportation Policy
Several years of poor budgeting choices are causing elected officials to propose drastic transportation policy changes - they are throwing mud up against the wall to see what sticks.
Several years of poor budgeting choices are causing elected officials to propose drastic transportation policy changes including leasing the Inter-County Connector, establishing new layers of government in the form of regional taxing districts and what is emerging as a perennial favorite - raising gasoline taxes.
Our elected officials are throwing mud up against the wall to see what sticks. If the Governor, Senate President and House Speaker really cared about improving transportation, they would not have let it reach crisis proportions.
Compared to fiscal year 2007 levels, counties' transportation funding has declined nearly $380 million through what state government calls highway user revenues- the taxes you and I pay to own and operate a vehicle. For fiscal year 2013, levels are 90% lower than just six years ago. The dollar amounts Maryland counties have lost is staggering. Compared to 2007 levels, Baltimore County went from $45.7 million to $3.7 million; Montgomery County went from $40.4 million to $3.3 million; Anne Arundel went from $31.8 million to $2.6 million.
Maryland transportation policy seems to be done on the fly as an afterthought. Governor O'Malley's legislative priorities this session are focused on pet issues and reacting to the latest headlines.
Last year O'Malley floated raising gasoline taxes on a radio station towards the end of the last regular legislative session and the initiative subsequently flopped in the legislature. Nearly seven months has lapsed since O'Malley has named a transportation secretary leaving a massive state agency a rudderless ship.
Senate President Mike Miller last week proposed to raise gasoline taxes 3% and establish regional taxing districts to allocate money for local projects. House Speaker Micheal Busch has expressed doubts about Miller's proposal. Meanwhile, there is still no consensus of how any new or existing transportation revenues derived from gasoline taxes and vehicle fees would be dedicated to that purpose.
The three-ring circus approach to making transportation policy must stop. The current approach is backwards and we must take three specific steps to restore the public's confidence that state government can address the challenges of maintenance and undertaking new road and mass-transit projects.
First, sound budgeting must apply to transportation. Second, the public must be assured that the transportation taxes and fees already collected are dedicated to this purpose. Third, elected officials must come up with cuts to other parts of the budget before even discussing additional taxes and fees. O'Malley's latest budget is up 30%, more than $9 billion since 2007. He has raised taxes and fees 24 times, removing an additional $2.4 billion out of the economy each year.
Change Maryland and its 26,000 members say no gas tax increase is needed. The state already collects enough from motorists to maintain roads and bridges. One of the problems is that revenues collected from motorists is disproportionately spent on expensive mass transit and even for non transportation related expenses.
As the legislative session in Annapolis is now well underway, we need to demand serious action from our state's top elected officials as our transportation challenges will only grow in the months and years ahead.
