Republican Runs on Revoking Rain Tax

Kittleman to Submit Legislation to Repeal State 'Rain Tax'

Howard County state senator Allan Kittleman (R-Dist. 9) announced Monday he will submit a bill asking the General Assembly to repeal the 2012 Watershed Protection and Restoration Act that forces the most populous counties and Baltimore City to enact stormwater fees.

The bill is often called the “rain tax” by its opponents.

Kittelman said that while he supports efforts to clean up and preserve the Cheapeake Bay, he believes the 2012 bill is “discriminatory, counter-productive, and unfairly taxes the business community for something that should be the responsibility of the entire community.”

It's manifestly unfair because it is a tax levied on only the impervious surfaces in the most populous counties of the state. But to be fair, where it has been implemented at all, that implemetation tends to fall most harshly on the more rural areas of the counties.  After all, as Clyde said to Bonnie, you have to go where the money is. My own county, Calvert, somehow escaped.

If the tax is on impervious surfaces, many of those are owned by the states; they're called roads and buildings; will the state and local governments be assessed their fair share to clean up the Bay?

I know, but I can fantasize, can't I?