Showing posts with label Governance Taxes MD. Show all posts

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Senator Nancy Jacobs: Help Stop an Increase in Tolls on the Hatem Bridge: We Need Your Help

20080415 The Newest Maryland State Highway Sign

Senator Nancy Jacobs: Help Stop an Increase in Tolls on the Hatem Bridge: We Need Your Help

Labels:Governance Taxes MD, MD Dept of Transpo EZ Pass, MD Issues Anti-business, MD Issues Taxes

God bless Senator Jacobs for rallying folks to speak-out about the massive Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) toll increases. However, in her heart she must know that citizen feedback will fall on deaf ears...

Please, I pray I'm wrong...

However it is my view that it will not do any good what-so-ever to give the Maryland Transportation Board any feedback. The MTA has already made up its mind. This huge out-of-touch behemoth bureaucracy absolutely does not care what citizens have to say.

It is going to go forward with all its fare and toll increases and is just going through the motions so that they may say they made time available for public feedback.

Some time ago when the MTA decided to charge a maintenance fee on the EZ Pass, our family provided feedback. The response was almost satire - or - Orwellian double-speak at its best. After it imposed the maintenance fee, all of my family and most of my friends and colleagues all joined the avalanche of folks who returned the MD EZ Pass and went to another state for the EZ Pass.

I'm just saying...

Senator Nancy Jacobs, Senate Minority Leader, District 34, Harford and Cecil Counties, NancyJacobs.com

VISIT THE HATEM BRIDGE INFO CENTER

HELP STOP AN INCREASE IN TOLLS

FROM THE OFFICE OF: SENATOR NANCY JACOBS
MINORITY LEADER, (R-Harford/Cecil)

The Maryland Transportation Authority Board has just voted unanimously to support a proposal to raise tolls around the state. I want all my constituents to know the details of that proposal locally, and how we plan to fight it. Here is information on the Hatem Bridge tolls they'd like to approve. The increases go into effect in two phases, starting this fall and again in 2013. The board has just suggested a new discount program specifically for users of the Hatem Bridge through EZ-PASS, but they plan to eliminate the current decal program.

CLICK HERE NOW TO GET THE FACTS NOW AND FIND OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO BY ATTENDING THE HEARINGS ON JUNE 16 AND JUNE 27.

Senator Nancy Jacobs
Senate Minority Leader
District 34-- Harford and Cecil County

Web sites:
nancyjacobs.com
mdsenategop.com

www.facebook.com/Senator.Nancy.Camp.Jacobs

My constituents are currently paying 10 dollars a year for a decal for unlimited passage. If they are forced to get this EZ Pass, initially they would have to pay 100 dollars and 54 dollars in 2012. Then in 2013 with the yearly price for the Hatem program would rise to 90 dollars a year. If people have more than one car and need more transponders, multiply that cost.

GET THE FACTS TODAY

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2011/06/senator-nancy-jacobs-help-stop-increase.html

Red Maryland: Its So EZ To Hit Up Taxpayers

Red Maryland: Its So EZ To Hit Up Taxpayers

Because they care so much for “working families” the O’Malley administration is set to impose fees on EZ Pass users making their commutes to work more expensive.

The Maryland Department of Transportation is set to slap a $1.50 monthly fee on EZ pass tag holders and start charging $21.00 for the EZ pass transponder. Maryland has 530,000 EZ Pass users.
In addition to those new fees MDTA will also increase fees on vehicles on with three or more axles. ...

[...]

Read the entire post here

Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

The comments on this post on Red Maryland are quite informative for folks who have a Maryland EZ Pass...

See also: Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

My wife called this to my attention the other day and we are less than pleased…

Ya know – this is nuts. Maryland should be encouraging the use of EZ Pass as it saves the state a great deal of money in personnel expenses and other assorted overhead with efficiency fueled by technology.

Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Despite the tough economic times, I knew Governor Martin O'Malley could never resist the urge to raise some form of tax/fee.

Read the rest of Red Maryland’s post here: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

20080106 Red Maryland: Way to Avoid Maryland's Proposed EZ Pass Fee

Kevin Dayhoff E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr DOT org His columns appear in The Tentacle, www.thetentacle.com; The Westminster Eagle /Eldersburg Eagle The Sunday Carroll Eagle - Opinion: http://explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/ www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ www.westminstermarylandonline.nethttp://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/kevindayhoffhttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835 http://picasaweb.google.com/kevindayhoff

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Friday, February 18, 2011

Stop the Gas Tax

Stop the Gas Tax February 16, 2011 www.stopthegastax.com

Dear Supporter,

I wanted to give you a sneak peak of the Maryland Republican Party’s new website (www.stopthegastax.com) aimed stopping new Gas Tax increases in their tracks. The website will officially launch later today but I wanted to give our loyal supporters the first look at the new site.

For years Democrats have raided the Maryland Transportation Fund to pay for increases in government spending and to paper over historic budget deficits – by nearly a quarter billion dollars in the last year alone. Now, they plan to ram through a variety of potential new taxes on the already record gasoline prices to pass the costs of their fiscal irresponsibility on to you.

Everything from taking your kids to school, commuting to work to running a business is about to get more expensive and we just can’t afford it. Use www.stopthegastax.com to let the politicians in Annapolis know that it’s time to trim their budget before they start taxing us at the gas pump.

Here are a few quick and simple ways you can let Annapolis know you won’t stand for new taxes at the pump:

Contact your state Senator or Delegate.

Sign the Stop the Gas Tax Petition.

Join the Stop the MD Gas Tax on Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Donate $10 to stop a 10 cent or more Gas Tax increase.

Visit www.stopthegastax.com to get started.

Sincerely,

Alex X. Mooney

Chairman, Maryland Republican Party

20110216 Mooney Stop the Gas Tax

Md Gen Assembly 2011 428 Gas Tx

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Adam Bednar – Patch: City Lawmakers Debate Bottle Tax After Pepsi Job Loss

Patch: City Lawmakers Debate Bottle Tax After Pepsi Job Loss

Pepsi Beverages Company said the controversial tax played a part in halting manufacturing in Hampden. http://northbaltimore.patch.com/articles/city-lawmakers-debate-bottle-tax-after-pepsi-job-loss

By Adam Bednar | Email the author | January 11, 2011

Add a comment (3 comments ) Email | Start Following | Print | | View full size

City lawmakers who represent North Baltimore are still split on whether approving a 2-cent bottle tax was the correct move after Pepsi Beverages Company announced it was halting manufacturing at its Hampden plant partly because of the tax.

Kristine Hinck, a Pepsi spokeswoman, acknowledged the tax played a role in the company’s decision to eliminate 77 jobs at the plant on Union Avenue.

“We look at factors we control internally, and also the external environment where we manufacture. Baltimore's beverage tax certainly hasn't helped the situation,” Hinck wrote in an e-mail to North Baltimore Patch. “At the end of the day, we have to look at where our costs are. When there's a beverage tax in place, it impacts our retailers' ability to sell product.”

The company announced Monday that it was halting manufacturing at the plant, but other functions will continue at the site and 318 people will continue to be employed there.

[…]

http://northbaltimore.patch.com/articles/city-lawmakers-debate-bottle-tax-after-pepsi-job-loss

20110111 Bednar Patch Lawmakers Debate Tx After Pepsi Loss

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Monday, November 08, 2010

Tax Foundation: 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index (Eighth Edition)

October 26, 2010 http://www.scribd.com/doc/41525892/Tax-Foundation-2011-State-Business-Tax-Climate-Index-Eighth-Edition

2011 State Business Tax Climate Index (Eighth Edition) http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22658.html

By Kail Padgitt

Background Paper No. 60

(The link for the document, “2011 State Business Tax Climate Index (Eighth Edition), PDF, 1022.4 KB by Kail Padgitt” may be also accessed from the Tax Foundation website here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp60.pdf)

(Hat Tip and some excellent commentary may also be found here: http://www.mdpolicy.org/policyblog/newsID.159/news_detail.asp - by The Maryland Public Policy Institute, “Maryland’s Tax Climate” by John J. Walters.)

The Baltimore Business Journal wrote about the tax climate index here: http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2010/10/26/maryland-ranks-44th-in-tax-climate-study.html - “Maryland ranks 44th in tax climate study,”

Baltimore Business Journal Tuesday, October 26, 2010 Read more: Maryland ranks 44th in tax climate study | Baltimore Business Journal.

Introduction - http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22658.html

The Tax Foundation presents the 2011 version of the State Business Tax Climate Index (SBTCI) as a tool for lawmakers, the media, and individuals alike to gauge how their states' tax systems compare. Policymakers can use the SBTCI to pinpoint changes to their tax systems that will explicitly improve their states' standing in relation to competing states.

The modern market is characterized by mobile capital and labor. Therefore, companies will locate where they have the greatest competitive advantage. States with the best tax systems will be the most competitive in attracting new businesses and most effective at generating economic and employment growth.

American companies often function at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. They pay one of the highest corporate tax rates of any of the industrialized countries. The top federal rate on corporate income is 35 percent, and states with punitive tax systems cause companies to be even less competitive globally.

While most of the tax debate this year has focused around state budget problems and the expiration or extension of the 2001-03 Bush tax cuts, it is important to remember that states' stiffest competition often comes from other states… http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22658.html

[20101026 Tax Foundation 2011 SBTCI bp60.pdf]

Tax Foundation, business, regulatory, taxes, rankings, State Business Tax Climate Index, Kail Padgitt

Tax Foundation: 2011 State Business Tax Climate Index (Eighth Edition)

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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Bob Ehrlich for Maryland campaign video: “Remember”

http://www.bobehrlich.com/2010/09/video-remember/

September 24th, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRhPvnsY_JA&feature=player_embedded

The Bob Ehrlich for Maryland campaign released the following television advertisement, which will air in the Baltimore market beginning this weekend. The ad focuses on Martin O’Malley’s legacy of misleading Marylanders, from his 2006 campaign statements regarding electricity rates in Baltimore to his more recent statements about Maryland’s economy.

EHRLICH ANNOUNCER: “Remember this promise?”

2006 MARTIN O’MALLEY CAMPAIGN AD: “Martin O’Malley – taking on BG&E to stop the rate hikes.”

EHRLICH ANNOUNCER: “Never happened. Your bill went up 72%.

“And O’Malley gave the bureaucrat who approved the increase a huge raise.

“Now Martin O’Malley promises we’re moving forward.

O’MALLEY VIDEO FOOTAGE: “The fact of the matter is our economy is doing much better now.”

EHRLICH ANNOUNCER: “Really? Nearly 7,000 Marylanders lost their jobs last month.”

“Four years ago Martin O’Malley mislead us. Now he’s just making stuff up.”

BACKGROUND

The (Baltimore) Sun’s June 10, 2007 article “Did The Sun go too easy on BGE rates, O’Malley?” states that, “combined with the 15 percent rate increase approved by the General Assembly in 2006, BGE customers would now be paying the 72 percent that produced such an outcry when the prospect surfaced last year.”

The Martin O’Malley campaign for Governor in 2006 aired a television advertisement entitled “Tough,” which specifically states that, as Governor, Martin O’Malley will “lower utility rates.” The ad can be viewed on Martin O’Malley’s Youtube page by clicking here.

The (Baltimore) Sun’s February 24, 2007 article “Beleagered PSC Member resigns” states that Public Service Commission Chairman Steven Larsen would be paid $185,000, even though his predecessor was paid $117,000. That’s a $68,000 raise.

The (Baltimore) Sun’s January 14, 2008 article “O’Malley to offer energy package” states that O’Malley, “campaigned on the unfulfilled promise of undoing a 72 percent electricity rate increase for 1.2 million Baltimore Gas & Electric customers.”

The (Baltimore) Sun’s June 10, 2007 “The Perils of Promises” called O’Malley’s 2006 campaign ad a “TV campaign commercial that included a risky promise – or at least the appearance of a promise: ‘taking on BGE to stop the rate hike.’ There’s not much wiggle room there.”

The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation’s August 2010 Monthly Labor Review states that 216,591 Marylanders were unemployed in August, an increase of 6,674 from the 209,917 in July 2010.

20100924 RLE Video Remember

Labels: Bus Econ Maryland, Elections 2010,Elections 2010 Maryland, Elections 2010 MD Governor, Gov Ehrlich-Robert, Governance Taxes MD, People O'Malley-Martin

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O’Malley-Brown Campaign Releases New TV Ad

O’Malley-Brown Campaign Releases New TV Ad to Set the Record Straight

On September 27, 2010, in Bob Ehrlich, Governor O'Malley, by Maureen Higgins

http://www.theonlinestate.com/blog/2010/09/27/omalley-brown-campaign-releases-new-video-to-set-the-record-straight/

In response to Bob Ehrlich’s misleading TV attack ad and desperate attempt to score political points at a press conference this morning, O’Malley-Brown Deputy Campaign Manager Rick Abbruzzese issued the following statement:

“This is embarrassing for the failed former governor: Bob Ehrlich has spent this election season misleading voters about his failed record of increased taxes and spending, and now he’s trying to blame Governor O’Malley for the failures of his own Public Service Commission.

“Everyone knows a fee is a tax, and everyone knows it was Ehrlich’s cronies at the PSC that failed to do anything about the 72% BGE rate hike. When voters fired Ehrlich, Martin O’Malley stepped in to clean up Ehrlich’s mess and won $2 billion in rebates from the electric companies, all while Ehrlich was enriching himself to the tune of $2.5 million working for a lobbying firm representing special interests.

“Now Ehrlich is trying to play the same desperate blame game with economic statistics and betting against Maryland’s future success. Here are the facts: since January, over 33,000 jobs have been created in Maryland. It’s the best job growth in a January to August period in Maryland since 2000.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV_0iWyUwbg&feature=player_embedded

20100927 OMalley Brown Campaign Releases New TV Ad

Labels: Bus Econ Maryland, Elections 2010, Elections 2010 Maryland, Elections 2010 MD Governor, Gov Ehrlich-Robert, Governance Taxes MD, Journalist Wagner John, People O'Malley-Martin
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Washington Post: First Click Maryland - A review of two records on revenues by John Wagner

First Click: A review of two records on revenues

Read much more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2010/09/first_click_marylanda_review_o.html?wprss=annapolisYour daily download of political news and analysis:

36 days until the Maryland elections

Monday, Sept. 27, 2010:

The Agenda

Even the casual observer of the Maryland governor's race has no doubt heard Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) knock his Republican predecessor for "jacking up taxes and fees by $3 billion." It's a common line on the stump and in campaign ads.

The number is based on an analysis by Maryland's nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services of revenue increases that took place during former governor Robert L. Ehrlich's four-year tenure. The figure -- actually $2.9 million -- requires some explanation, and it is unfair to pin the full total on Ehrlich (R). But more on that in a moment.

A newer DLS analysis is now circulating that provides close to an apples-to-apples comparison of revenue increases during O'Malley's four years. That figure: $3.6 billion (a higher number than the Ehrlich era but lower than some, including the Ehrlich campaign in a recent Web ad, have suggested).

In the final five weeks of the campaign, voters are certain to be treated to cacophony of numerical claims from both sides, some more firmly rooted in reality than others. The DLS numbers are probably as objective as we're going to get, so they seem worth exploring.

First off, the numbers are "cumulative," meaning they are intended to measure the additional revenue that resulted across all four fiscal years that began while Ehrlich and O'Malley were in office.

The state property tax, for example, was raised early in Ehrlich's term, so DLS scores the impact of that tax increase as $170.8 million in fiscal year 2004, $185.1 million in 2005, $205 million in 2006 and $132 million in 2007 -- for a cumulative impact of $692.9 million.

Secondly, it is important to note that the analyses do not take into account how the revenue increases originated.

The Democrat-led legislature, for example, approved an HMO tax during a 2004 special session to subsidize doctors' medical malpractice insurance costs and to enhance Medicaid coverage. Ehrlich vetoed the bill that included the tax, but his veto was overridden by the legislature. Still, nearly $190 million in revenue increases attributable to the HMO tax are included in the analysis during Ehrlich's tenure.

Moreover, the definition of "revenue measures" in the analysis is broader than just tax and fee hikes. The Ehrlich-era total includes his better-known fee increases, including those on vehicle registrations, sewer systems and corporate filings. But Ehrlich's tenure also includes several "tax compliance measures," which are hardly the political sin these days that tax and fee increases have come to be.

The O'Malley-era total includes some revenue related to the state's fledgling slot-machine gambling program and speed cameras initiative.

But the $3.6 billion figure is almost entirely attributable to a 2007 special session in which multiple taxes were raised in an effort to fix the budget, and the imposition of a temporary "millionaires' tax" in 2008.

The 2007 tax measures included an increase in the personal income tax on high-end earners, as well as increases in the sales tax, corporate income tax, tobacco tax and vehicle titling tax.

The four-year impact of the special session is scored at $4.2 billion. O'Malley's overall figure is brought down some by backing out the impact of a tax on computer services, however. Lawmakers passed that tax in 2007 but repealed it in 2008 before it took effect. The four-year impact of the "tech tax" alone would have been $661.5 million, according to the analysis.

Got all that? We can promise it won't be the last time you'll hear some of these numbers between now and Nov. 2.

-- John Wagner

Trust First Click for critical news and analysis you need to navigate Maryland politics each weekday. You can also find First Click onFacebook and Twitter.

By John Wagner | September 27, 2010; 6:45 AM ET Categories: First Click, John Wagner

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Labels: Bus Econ Maryland, Elections 2010, Elections 2010 Maryland, Elections 2010 MD Governor, Governance Taxes MD, Journalist Wagner John, Newspapers Washington Post

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