[Baltimore Sun] Are higher tolls on the way? Maryland lawmakers brace for ‘political landmines’ in transportation funding debate
Read Time:4 Minute, 45 Second
Maryland officials at the center of conversations about how the state will pay for its underfunded transportation needs said Wednesday they will likely soon need to make politically unpopular decisions — including, potentially, higher tolls and shifting some taxing responsibilities from the state to new regional authorities.
Specific proposals have not yet been formed, and it’s unclear which ideas might receive more attention than others when the Maryland General Assembly begins its annual 90-day session in January.
But after significant cuts last year were partially addressed with vehicle registration hikes and other methods, officials said they’ve probably already hit their limit on “low-hanging fruit.”
“There are a lot of political landmines for legislators,” Del. Vaughn Stewart, a Montgomery County Democrat, said during an event organized by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce at the University of Maryland.
Stewart said he and his colleagues will have to make tough calls “even if it means that maybe we lose some votes in our next reelection, because if we don’t get this [funding] done, and then some, I think we’re cooked economically as a state.”
Maryland’s transportation system is increasingly starving for cash — putting at risk needed upkeep, expansion plans and long-term goals like building out Baltimore’s light rail network with the Red Line. Cuts announced in the last year have paused new construction and deferred some maintenance in areas like roads and transit.
A total of $3.3 billion in reductions in the 6-year plan were pitched early this year, though some of that was addressed by tapping reserves, raising registration fees, and implementing a few new fees like a 75-cent per-ride fee on Uber, Lyft or similar services. Another $1.3 billion in cuts were announced this fall as gas tax revenues came in lower than expected and operating costs continued to rise.
Baltimore-area leaders have called the downward trend an “existential threat” to Baltimore City and the larger region, and some have taken aim at Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s administration for not yet coming up with long-term solutions. Democratic lawmakers have joined in the public frustration and are expected to push a range of bills to remake the transportation funding system in the next session.
“We need a lot of votes to make this happen in both the House and the Senate, and we need the governor to be on board too,” Stewart said. “A lot of this stuff is going to be politically fraught for a lot of people.”
What they might vote on will likely become clearer after Jan. 1. That’s when a commission charged with looking at the problem is scheduled to release its final recommendations. The two main suggestions from the group’s interim report last year were creating a new fee for electric and hybrid vehicles — which pay a smaller amount or nothing in gas taxes — and raising tolls to “maximize revenue.”
The electric vehicle fee was approved with bipartisan support in the 2024 session. The tolling discussion was tabled but is likely to re-emerge in 2025. Any increases would be the first since 2013, and they would follow former Republican Gov. Hogan’s decision to cut tolls in 2016 and 2019, saving drivers’ money but costing the state more than $500 million.
“We’re going to have to raise tolls eventually,” Stewart said. “If people are already going to be feeling that toll rate pinch, is there a way that we could accelerate it or amp it up a little bit as part of this [Transportation Trust Fund] solution?”
Other ideas mentioned at the Chamber event but have less momentum are a sales tax increase and a new “vehicle-miles traveled” fee. The latter would help the state move away from relying on the gas tax by charging drivers for how much they actually drive. Four states have implemented the idea, though it has received little attention in Maryland.
“The low-hanging fruit is pretty limited,” said Frank Principe, who chairs the commission investigating new funding options. “To get to where we want to be … It’s going to require us to make bigger and bolder steps, and I think that’s just political will to do that.”
Del. Marc Korman, a Montgomery County Democrat who focuses on transportation policy, said at the Maryland Chamber event that a “key question” should be whether different regions of Maryland should be responsible for their own transportation needs.
For instance, the state currently picks up the entire tab for both Baltimore’s mass transit network and Maryland’s share of the metro system in and around Washington, D.C. Covering two major urban mass transit operations in that way is unique to Maryland, and a better solution may be enabling different regional authorities to run each system — or for the state to figure out how to tax residents in each area differently, possibly by their proximity to transit or other projects.
“We’re at a little bit of a moment now where we need to consider: Do we want to continue in this fashion?” Korman said.
Have a news tip? Contact Sam Janesch at sjanesch@baltsun.com, (443) 790-1734 and on X as @samjanesch.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0