Taxes on alcohol, gasoline, corporate income and sales face possible increases during the 2011 General Assembly.
“We need to figure out a way to close that deficit,” Sen. Richard Madaleno said last Friday at the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Policy Conference, held in National Harbor, Md.
It may not be possible “to do it all with budget cuts,” said Madaleno, who predicted an even bleaker budget outlook with a possible $2 billion structural deficit.
On the alcohol tax, Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat on the Budget and Taxation Committee and a member of the Maryland Business Tax Reform Commission, said that “an increase would be significant” for additional revenue.
The last time the alcohol tax was raised was in 1972, on beer and wine. If the tax goes from 1 cent per drink to the equivalent of 11 cents per drink, he said, “that would bring in $200 million to the state.”
Senate President Mike Miller has long advocated increasing the gas tax and he did so again at the conference, as he had last year. This time, though, he had company.
The gasoline tax was last raised in 1992, from 18.5 cents to 23.5 cents per gallon.
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Delaware here I come!
ReplyDeleteDont' forget the cigarette tax - we all know the smokers are usually the FIRST to get hit!
ReplyDeleteEven though it sure doesn't seem to be solving any of their problems now does it? How much as the cigarette tax gone up in the last 10 years to help balance the budget and to help education?
Both of these are still broke!?
What about all this frivilous spending that benefits the Good Ole Boys? What about selling all this land the State bought from their buddies and took off the Tax record and restrict with legislation that is on the books? Politians do it to the rest of the Tax Payers. What about eliminating Project Open Space? What about fisical responsibility? What about quit giving away Tax dollars to non-profit charities, that pay outragous salaries instead of using the money for thier charitiable work, that are supposed to raise their own money? What about quit spending Tax dollars like a child in a candy store? These would have been excellent interview questions I never heard.
ReplyDelete"We need to figure a way to close that deficit..." Really? Being as the legislators CREATED the deficit, I'd say thats a BRILLIANT idea. After doing things that would put you and I in jail, such as paying for things (or PROMISING to pay) with bad checks, these slimy, cheating and thieving crooks (our legislators) want US to pay for their mistakes and thievery by TAXING us some more??? And does ANYONE think that these new taxes and fees (not really a tax, you know) and fines and levys will be used to pay down any debt? LOL!!!!!!!!! They are POLITICIANS! They will only use the new income streams to pay for NEW projects and stupid ideas that they can point to in the NEXT election (if there IS one) as "all the things they've accomplished" in office. And we, of course, will fall for all this, hook, line, and sinker....like we always do. The cyle begins again and they continue laughing at the gullibility of "we, the people".
ReplyDeleteI believe that if more people would vote for the person that will do the JOB and not just because they belong to one party or another, we'd all be alot better off!
ReplyDeleteThis party line stuff is for the birds! There are just as many bad apples on both sides of the aisle!
I say no problem, I am just as close to Delaware as I am to Salisbury. I shop completely in Delaware. That includes groceries as well. I do that now with the unreasonable 6% sales tax that was force on us! Maryland forgets they are a small state. I know all the back roads as well!
ReplyDeleteLet the free market rule!