Editorial: Welcome back; it’s time to act

Posted: 5:50 pm Thu, January 12, 2012
By Daily Record Staff

The Maryland General Assembly is encamped in Annapolis once again for its annual 90-day session, primed to do the people’s business. At least we hope so.

Little was accomplished in the 2011 session. That was unfortunate, because there was much to be done, but it also was not unusual for the first year in a four-year term. There were many new faces, people in new roles and freshmen not yet ready to take on big issues.

There also was a strong preference in the executive and legislative branches to postpone tough financial decisions and hope instead that another round of fiscal gimmickry would buy enough time for the economy to start pumping big bucks into state coffers again.

That didn’t happen, so Gov. Martin O’Malley and the 188 state legislators are faced with many of the same problems that confronted them last year. And time is running out.

The crisis in transportation funding stands at the top of the list of pressing fiscal issues.

It has been nine months since Gus Bauman, chairman of The Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding, told the governor and legislative leaders that “… the state’s transportation system finds itself on the verge of financial collapse unless action is taken now to change course for a new, more secure heading.”

Mr. Bauman was right, but we are still waiting for actions.

Maryland needs a major infusion of money to finance projects that are vital to moving people and goods more effectively, improving our quality of life and our economy.

The Red and Purple mass transit lines hold great promise for the Baltimore area and the Washington suburbs. Planning is proceeding quickly and the projects will be eligible for up to 50 percent federal funding. But the state has nowhere near enough money to pay its share of the more than $4 billion to build these lines.

We also need money to repair and build bridges and roads and to keep improving facilities at the Port of Baltimore.

With a goal of increasing transportation revenues by $800 million a year, the commission is urging a 15-cents-per-gallon gas tax hike over three years as well as increases to vehicle registration fees, the titling tax on new and used cars, higher transit fares and a range of fee increases at the Motor Vehicle Administration.

These proposals come with their share of pain. We understand that, and we know it’s hard for politicians to raise taxes and fees in tough economic times.

But it is irresponsible for our elected leaders to continue to ignore a transportation system “on the verge of financial collapse.”

We are not locked into a total amount of money that should be raised, nor the means by which to raise it. But the Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding presents a convincing case on both fronts, and we believe the burden is on the governor and legislature to either accept the commission’s recommendations or develop a plan of their own which provides substantial new resources for transportation.

Whatever they do on the revenue side, it is essential that our elected leaders also agree to stop raiding transportation funds for other purposes. This commitment needs to be made publicly and emphatically to a skeptical public.