2/20/04-Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. announced Feb. 13 his plan to pump new money into transportation projects.
Ehrlich said his proposal would provide an additional $320 million a year for the state’s depleted Transportation Trust Fund, which has been hit by rising costs and diversions of money to balance the state budget, according to a statement.
The revenue plan avoids fuel or titling tax hikes but increases the cost of buying or registering a vehicle. Higher fines on drunken drivers and those who commit a moving violation would also be a component of the plan.
Other revenue would come from unspecified fees, money shifted from the state’s general fund and revised estimates of returns from current taxes.
The largest component of the package – HB19 – would be an increase in registration fees, which are expected to bring in $150 million in additional funds each year. The surcharge amount would be determined by the cost of the vehicle but would not be computed as a percentage.

2/2/04-Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. told Republican state lawmakers last week he would propose a transportation bill that avoids a fuel tax hike but increases the cost of buying or registering a vehicle, The Baltimore Sun reported.
GOP lawmakers say the two key provisions of the package will be an increase in registration fees and a higher titling tax on the purchase price of new and used vehicles.
Together, the two sources would bring the administration close to the $300 million a year additional revenue a recent task force said is needed to replenish the depleted state Transportation Tax Fund.
Ehrlich outlined his revenue package at a meeting with Republican House members Jan. 26. According to The Sun, the governor and Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan asked rural lawmakers to support his package.
Delegate Carmen Amedori, R-Westminster, said Flanagan outlined a series of cuts the administration had made to mass transit and indicated more was on the way. Amedori said Ehrlich and Flanagan assured the Republicans that the transportation plans would favor highways over mass transit.
“We have the governor’s word and Bob Flanagan’s word that this will be going into roads, not transit,” Amedori said.
Republican legislators said the title measure would be presented as a “graduated” surcharge rather than an increase in the 5 percent tax.
The surcharge amount would be determined by the cost of the vehicle but would not be computed as a percentage. Further details were not available.

12/31/03-A proposal in the House would freeze the state’s Transportation Trust Fund over concerns that the governor may increase the fuel tax to pay for road improvements.
The bill sponsor, Delegate John R. Leopold, said the legislation would prohibit the transfer of money from the trust fund to the general fund. It would require a state constitutional amendment and voter approval for passage.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. took $300 million from the trust fund when he took office last year to balance a nearly $2 billion shortfall left by the previous administration.
The governor still must present a budget before the General Assembly convenes Jan. 14 that includes a plan to reduce the remaining $786 million shortfall.
Leopold, R-Pasadena, estimates more than $700 million in the past two decades has been transferred from the trust fund to balance the state budget. He also said $70 million has never been repaid.
The state has not raised the fuel tax in over a decade, and a transportation fund task force is looking for a way to generate $300 million by 2010 to fund new projects, Leopold said.
He said lawmakers are also talking about increasing vehicle registration and titling fees.