Maryland House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell has called for a delay in the Purple Line and Baltimore's Red Line, saying proposed tax increases to fund the light rail projects would be too costly for taxpayers, the Baltimore Business Journal reports.
In Annapolis this legislative session, lawmakers are grappling with ways to fund the Purple Line, Red Line and other transportation projects.
Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach has proposed a 3 percent gas tax that would raise up to $300 million for transportation, and jurisdictions would be able to tack on another 5 cents per gallon to pay for local transportation projects, Patch reported.
O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby said the Purple and Red Line projects should be put on hold until the economy improves, the Business Journal reports.
“We can’t shock the economy,” O’Donnell said at the Greater Baltimore Committee's General Assembly Legislative Forum, according to the report. “The citizens are hurting. They can’t take any more tax increases.”
