Chamber Mounts Another Push for Transportation Funds

With Maryland’s legislative session set to start this week, I sat down on Monday afternoon with Claire Louder, the president and CEO of the . 

Louder, who works out of offices in Odenton, spends a lot of time in Annapolis while also serving on the legislative committee for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

With lawmakers set to meet, Louder said there are seven issues that the West County Chamber is focused on, with transportation funding at the top of the list.

(I will give a rundown of the other six issues later this week, but the transportation issue deserves an article all to itself.)

The bottom line, Louder said, is that with all of the new people moving into Fort Meade and the surrounding area, the local infrastructure is in serious need of upgrades. So she and the chamber are taking the somewhat unusual step of advocating for an increase in the gas tax to pay for new roads and public transit options.

“All you have to do is look around this area and see how much need we have for transportation funding for expansion of our roads,” Louder said. “We have to do something about that. It’s going to take money. No one wants to pay a tax, but the reality is we’re paying a tax right now in the extra gas we’re putting in our cars because of the amount of time we’re sitting in traffic, and the extra time we’re spending on our roads.”

A Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding has advocated for $800 million in new revenue for transportation upgrades in the state, with $322 million raised annually from a 10 cent per gallon increase in the gas tax.

Locally, there have been few road upgrades even as more than 5,000 workers arrived at Fort Meade due to base realignment and closure (BRAC) activities in 2011. The Maryland Department of Transportation has reported that there are plans in place to widen Route 175 across from Fort Meade, but there is currently no money set aside for construction.

Anne Arundel County officials said last year that the cost to upgrade roads to accommodate all of the current and future growth at Fort Meade .

The chamber is not just advocating for the gas tax increase. Just as importantly, Louder said, business leaders want the legislature to pass a law placing a “firewall” around Maryland’s Transportation Trust Fund, which has frequently been used to help pay for other needs in the state.

“The Transportation Trust Fund has been everyone’s favorite piggy bank,” Louder said. “It’s been raided for everything under the sun, and we believe the transportation trust fund dollars should be used for transportation.”

Louder testified in support of these same measures last year as well, but a bill presented by Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Montgomery County) failed to get approval. Now, she said, there appears to be more support for the tax increase, as Gov. Martin O’Malley and others have come out in favor of it. She also noted that gas prices are also a bit lower now, making a tax increase easier to stomach.

Check back Thursday for details on the other priorities for the West Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce during the upcoming legislative session.