A local legislator says it will adversely affect Maryland families.
Governor Martin O'Malley's proposal to require that gasoline be subject to the state's 6% sales tax may not fly in the 2012 General Assembly. "I don't know if he has broad support, even within the majority party {Democrats} to be able get something like that through. But it could be very costly and very detrimental to some families out there," says Frederick County Delegate Kelly Schulz, a Republican.
Last week, in his State of the State Address, O'Malley asked lawmakers to remove the sales tax exemption from gasoline sold in Maryland. That would mean that the levy would be added to the gasoline tax, which stands at 22.5%, when motorists fill up at the pump. He says the revenue is needed to pay for repairs and maintenance of the state's roads and bridges.
"There's an obvious need to repair the bridges and roads, and think about our transportation infrastructure going into the future," says Schulz. "However, one thing we need to talk about very clearly is being able to protect those monies going into any sort of fund, in particular the Transportation Trust Fund."
She also says the state can repair and maintain its roads without any tax increases, but it would require some sacrifices in other areas of state government.
On another topic, Delegate Schultz has introduced two bills. One dealing with business regulations, and how they can be modified. "Specifically, the Workplace Fraud Act that was passed in 2009, and how that has hindered all businesses, retail shops, mainly in the construction industry," she says. "And how they're being burdened with the misclassification of the people that do the work for them."
Last week, the Governor said he was sending over about 700 pages of regulations, and asked legislators to modify or eliminate them. He also suggested they look at other regulations and decide which ones they wanted to change or take off the books.
Delegate Schulz has also introduced a bill extending Workers' Compensation Benefits to volunteer fire fighters and ambulance personnel who are injured while doing community service. She said a fire fighter in Pennsylvania was denied Workers Compensation after he was injured while working as a fire policemen for another fire company.
