Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is planning to hold a meeting with transportation officials on Friday to address the state’s dwindling resources for road and rail maintenance — an issue he was accused of ignoring in the legislative session that ended earlier this month.
O’Malley has raided nearly $800 million from the Transportation Trust Fund since fiscal 2009 to help plug annual budget gaps. Most of the money has come from state coffers for local road maintenance, leaving local jurisdictions without the resources to repair potholes and aging bridges.
Now, the problem is getting worse: Transportation funds depend primarily on gas tax revenues, which have been slashed by the recession and the rising price of oil as Maryland residents cut back on their driving.
Democratic lawmakers tried to raise the state’s gas tax this year to help pump more money into the trust fund, but the bill failed. Proponents of a higher gas tax will try again to win support for the measure this fall during a special session on redistricting, according to Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola, D-Gaithersburg.
