O’Malley considers gas tax increase
Under a new proposal by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the gas tax could be raised by six percent over the course of three years, according to the Student Government Association Director of Legislative Affairs Ryan Fredriksson.
Fredriksson said that O’Malley wants to increase the tax rate on gas to make up for shortfalls in the budget for the Transportation Trust Fund, which is supposed to be used for repairing infrastructure such as bridges and roadways.
“What he wants to do is increase the tax by two percent each year for three years, which is a higher rate than what the state’s commission recommended,” Fredriksson said. “I personally don’t see that as a solution to what I see as irresponsible spending of the Transportation Trust Fund.”
Freshman criminology major Erica Swain agreed with Fredriksson and said that she believes too many of the government’s problems are placed on the citizens.
“I’m not a huge fan of politics, but I do think that they can find some other way of decreasing the debt in Maryland without making it the people’s fault that they can’t manage money,” she said. “Cutting out all of their empty promises is a great start.”
The opposition of the gas tax is one of many issues that Fredriksson and about 100 other students addressed at Tiger Pride Day on Wednesday, Feb. 15, the one day every year Towson students go to the Maryland State Legislature and speak with lawmakers about concerns that affect students.
“Legislators really enjoy talking to students because it’s not the same old thing they hear every day,” Fredriksson said. “They get the student perspective, because we are the ones who have to live with the decisions that the legislators make.”
Other issues that the student body addressed at Tiger Pride Day included the Towson and University System of Maryland budgets, which will allow Towson to carry out renovations to Smith Hall and build a pedestrian bridge over Osler Drive, as well as a tax-free textbook day prior to every semester for college students.
Fredriksson said that it is important for students to voice their opinions on proposed legislation that impacts their everyday lives.
“It [the proposed gas tax] would be catastrophic to Towson students, especially those who commute,” he said. “The average commute for a student is 13 miles, and you multiply that by five days a week, it’s going to be a lot more money they have to spend on gas,” he said.
Freshman accounting major Jessica Guan said that she doesn’t feel it’s fair that the state is raising the gas tax to make up for mistakes that they made.
“Gas is already high enough. It’s not our fault that Maryland is in debt,” she said “If there was more careful budgeting, then Maryland wouldn’t be in debt. It’s not fair that we have to pay for their mess.”
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Wait a second.. Didnt O’malley campaign against Ehrlich saying that Ehrlich raised Taxes and Fees, and that O’Malley wouldnt do that????
What Fee hasnt O’malley raised, What Tax hasnt he raised or proposed? He certainly hasnt kept tuition low… Wow, Sounds like one Big, Fat, Liar!!!!!
Yep, tax and spend, tax and spend.
This is what happens when spending gets unchecked. Maryland had a millionaires tax, they left. Now Maryland is trying to tax people over 100,000 and tax gas.
That’s what happens when spending gets unchecked, you keep taxing and taxing to feed the addiction.
Where can all this money be going? We need to get some fiscal discipline in this state.
It is not necessarily to cut all spending; but we need some discipline.
Well……..I hope all the Dems are happy with the Gov!!
I view this as pandemic of a larger problem. The government continually sees our state or national debt as a REVENUE problem, when that is simply not the case. The issue is a SPENDING problem. Until our government realizes that, they will get into the idea that if they can just TAX and TAX more, the debt will go away. But that obviously has severe consequences. The people and businesses and industry GREATLY suffer. But then there is the question of tax to spending revenue. Even if the government could tax people 100 percent, they government still spends far MORE than 100 percent of what they can take in via revenue. The essence of a deficit is that they SPEND more than you TAKE in. This does not work long-term for a household, nor will it for a state or national government.
tax to spending ratio- not revenue*
Great article. A special thank you to all students who represented Towson University at the recent Tiger Pride Day in Annapolis.
One comment on the gas tax issue, the current administration is also considering adding Maryland’s 6% sales tax on top of the already high price of gas per gallon. Students, faculty and staff are all affected by this increase as many commute quite a distance to attend classes or work on the Towson campus.
So let’s see. Increased fees statewide. Tuition increase. Flush tax increase. Loss of income tax exemptions. Gas tax increase. Taxes for online purchases. Taxes for music downloads. Taxes on fitness memberships(yes, omalley wants that). Is there anything he won’t tax or increase. This guy Omalley is caustic for Maryland.
Leave your response!
Year in Review
The Towerlight in Print
Check our print archives.
Categories
Weather
Archive
Resources
Used Cars
First Class Chauffeured Washington DC Limousine Service
Recent Comments
recent articles
Links
Sections