Opt Ed Piece from Senator Nancy Jacobs
Wed, Jun 26, 2013
Maryland State House – Call 911 – Ambulance Needed
Maryland drivers are getting ready to head to the emergency
room for a transfusion, as Governor O’Malley is sucking their life’s blood out
of them, or should I say the few dollars they have left in their wallets.
With all the legislation that was passed in the recently
ended legislative session, we should all be thankful that it only lasts for 90
days. Otherwise we might be finding
ourselves at the local soup kitchen for what this Governor is costing us.
On July 1, Martin O’Malley’s sticky fingers will plunge deep
in our pockets to pull out an additional $2 dollars in toll fees for the Bay
Bridge, the Harry W. Nice Bridge, the JFK Highway (I-95) and Thomas J. Hatem
Memorial Bridge. Oh, that hand’s not
finished yet – grab an additional dollar for the Harbor and Ft. McHenry tunnels
and the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Next year when the Express Toll Lanes open on
Interstate 95 we’ll have even more toll hikes with the variable toll rates
lanes. All for the sake of cutting time off on our work commute. This gives
whole new meaning to the phrase “time is money” with Governor Martin O’Malley
in charge of your wallet.
Until this year Governor O’Malley should have been forced to
buy malpractice insurance to cover what his administration had not been doing –
going after those who breeze through the E-Z pass tolls without paying. In the last five years these toll-runners
have chalked up nearly $6.7 million in unpaid tolls – and they want to dip into
the pockets again of the law-bidding motorists.
Botched operation – get me a lawyer!
Now you take the surrounding states, Delaware has $10 in
tolls for the entire state. West
Virginia has only one toll road (take me home country roads). Our good friends in Virginia only pay $27.10
and that’s including the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel at $12.00. Only the state of Pennsylvania equals our
current total of $33.00 … and they have 15 toll roads compared to our 8 soon to
be 9. Really? I think I’m going to faint
– grab the smelling salts.
The public is still choking on the Gas Tax we’re going to
start paying on July 1, 2013, the same day that the tolls increase. If the feds don’t add to our misery, you’ll
be paying at least 62.5 cents per gallon in taxes by 2016. My suggestion to you -- learn the Heimlich
maneuver before then!
In just the past two years alone we’ve see car registration
double (don’t forget to add the additional $3.50 the gas tax bill has included
in raising the registration fee once again), titling a vehicle doubled, and car
dealers processing fees doubled. For
those of you who found a car or truck too expensive to use – even moped and
motor scooters owners found the “Tax Man” waiting like the Grim Reaper. The addition of a $20 titling fee and an
excise tax of 6 percent, requirement of insurance and the additional cost to
purchase a helmet and protective eye wear…
We always have the option of riding a bike, rollerblades or a skateboard
– oh wait, give’em time -- they’ll tax that too!
Wait a dog gone minute – the intake from toll fees collected
minus expenses for the fiscal years 2011 and 2012 is a whopping
$621,460,763. Oh my gosh -- the heart is
beating double time, I’m having a hard time breathing! Didn’t the MDTA say in 2011 that costs for
repairs involving all these toll roads AND the expense of addressing traffic
congestion along I-95 (the express toll lanes) and the Inter-county Connector
in the DC area totaled $909,000,000. Oh
hon, one more year without another toll increase and the funds for all that
work will have given us $130,000,000 to spare – the cost of gold-plated
pacemakers for everyone in the state.
The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Maryland in 2012 reports
that the standard for a three-person family has increased by an average of 54%
in the last decade. How much will these
new taxes and fees increase that average?
Enough is enough; we haven’t even gotten to the wind and
rain taxes O’Malley inflicted on us.
The only person dancing in the rain after the 2013
Legislative Session is Martin O’Malley. After July 1, 2013 the rest of us will
be on life support.
[20130626 sdosm Op ed Jacobs]
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