State legislature must put trust back in Transportation Trust Fund

Governor Martin O'Malley's Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation Funding has recommended significantly increasing the gasoline tax and doubling vehicle registration and inspection fees — an impact of more than $900 million per year.

While I agree we need to improve our congested and deteriorating roads, I strongly disagree that raising the gas tax should be the first order of business.

Passing a constitutional amendment to put the "trust" back in the Transportation Trust Fund should be the first item on the legislature's agenda when the General Assembly convenes in January. In the past, hundreds of millions of dollars have been taken from the trust fund and used for non-transportation purposes.

For six years, I have submitted a bill that would prohibit the transfer of funds out of the Transportation Trust Fund. This legislation would also restore the counties' and municipal government's share of highway user revenues to historically agreed upon levels.

I have also proposed legislation that would dedicate highway user fees and taxes solely for use of building and maintaining highways.

We must ensure that, among transportation projects, maximum value is obtained from those expenditures.

In recent years, 45 percent of Maryland's transportation funding has been spent on mass transit, yet transit only accounts for approximately 3 percent of travel in Maryland. Fares barely cover 30 percent of our operating costs, and the rest is subsidized by highway users through the taxes on motorists.

If you look at the priorities in the governor's PlanMaryland and Transportation Capital Improvement Plan, multi-billion dollar mass transit projects are his priority.

I do not believe that mass transit is our priority. Marylanders want their transportation dollars going to improve roads.

When the governor decided to increase spending on health care, education for illegal aliens and other expensive initiatives, he increased the state's budget well beyond our tax revenue.

Now is not the time to raise this very regressive gas tax on Marylanders. Our state government needs to learn to live within its means and be honest with our taxpayers.

My bill to protect the Transportation Trust Fund has repeatedly failed because the majority party — including the governor — wants flexibility to spend as they please with every tax dollar collected from our citizens. The lack of transparency and accountability is the root of many of the problems we have at all levels of government spending.

The time is now to put a lock box on the Transportation Trust Fund and direct those funds to improving our roads and highway system.

State Delegate Susan Krebs

Eldersburg

The author is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 9B, which includes Sykesville and Eldersburg.