The State's Transportation Trust Fund has been raided this year by $100 million. Martin O'Malley transferred 60 million to cover ongoing expenses and squirreled away $40 million in the Rainy Day Fund. The depleted fund is supposed to go to transportation projects and maintenance of our bridge and highways. The money in the Trust Fund is gathered from a 23.5 cent per gallon tax. Lawmakers are looking to increase the tax to replenish the fund. In the past 3 years over $2 Billion dollars have been transferred out of this fund. If the Transportation Fund is just being used for everything else, than raising the gas tax will not replenish the Fund. It is is just sleight of hand raising of our taxes. Especially since Maryland's aging and ill maintained transit, roads, dams, bridges, and storm water systems earned a C- according to the 2011 Report Card for Maryland's Infrastructure prepared by the Maryland Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Didn't O'Malley attack Ehrlich on coining the term "fees" instead of taxes during the election? Isn't this the same thing?
Source from Gazette.net
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