The Bay Diet - Gorging on New Taxes?

Miller Wants to Expand Gambling and Raise Gas and Flush Taxes

Senate President Mike Miller told county officials from across Maryland on Friday that he wants to expand casino gambling, increase the gas tax and push some of the costs of state pensions onto the counties.

The tax on gambling is just a tax on stupidity.  I guess I don't object, but the stupid should.  Gas seems plenty expensive enough already.  And while it doesn't really matter in the end whether we pay for state pensions out of state taxes or county taxes, I have a sneaky, well, no it's not really sneaky, feeling that he wants to push it off on the counties, so he can keep the revenues up, and used them elsewhere.  And that would just be awful, as it would give the state no incentive to try to control state pension costs.

None of these positions from Miller are new, except for another proposal to eliminate the estate tax on family farms. But he said he could pass the gas tax in the Senate and probably an increase in the unpopular flush tax to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

Speaking on the same panel at the Maryland Association of Counties annual meeting, House Speaker Michael Busch took no position on the tax hikes. But he said in an interview that expansion of gambling especially into Prince George’s County, as Miller wants, would be difficult to pass the House.

And the increase the flush tax.  I've heard that they want to as much as triple or quadruple the current tax of $30 a year.  

Senate Republican Leader E.J. Pipkin gave no encouragement that any Republicans would support any tax increases, but continued his theme that Gov. Martin O’Malley was continuing a “war on rural Maryland.”

“Politics is about cuts and revenues,” Miller said. “We’re going to come up with revenues.”

But he conceded, “It’s hard to cobble the votes together to get these things done,” especially with Republicans refusing to vote for the state’s operating and capital budgets, even while they want the state aid provided to their jurisdictions.

“If you want capital projects, you’ve got to vote for the budget,” Miller said.

Those nasty Republicans, actually expecting to get something for the taxes they already pay...