Dems Inflate Gas Tax

Did you know that the gas tax goes up every July 1st? 

 

Maryland’s gas taxes are already high—starting July 1st, 2023, the state tax rate of a gallon of gas will increase to 47 cents per gallon, an increase of more than 10% compared to the current rate. Over the last two years, the rate has increased by 30% due to inflation and surging fuel prices.

In 2013, the extremists in Annapolis passed the first increase in the gas tax in more than two decades which included an automatic increase every year tied to the Consumer Price Index - CPI - or inflation. This guaranteed that when families were hurting the worst in the future under rising inflation, Maryland would kick them when they were down. This past session in Annapolis, we had a chance to put a stop to the automatic gas tax increases.  

 

Our colleague from St. Mary’s County, Delegate Matt Morgan, proposed an amendment to stop those automatic increases. This amendment would have saved motorists from a $62.5 million tax increase starting on July 1st. His amendment was voted down. It was a party-line vote with Republicans voting yes and all but 2 Democrats shamefully voting to keep the gas tax tied to the CPI. 

 

We believe that this isn’t fair for hard-working Marylanders who rely on their cars to go to work or get their kids to school. Marylanders should be able to trust the government to look out for them!  What we see in Annapolis is a very clear agenda that gives tax relief to mass transit riders and owners of electric vehicles, and not to drivers who put gas in their cars and trucks.