Which Taxes Will They Raise? We Need a Maryland Taxpayer Protection Act!

The die is cast. Governor Martin O’Malley patched together a FY11 budget with one-time fixes. All conceivable reserve funds have been tapped out. There is no long-term strategy to resolve the $8 billion of out-year deficits created by O’Malley’s lackluster budget policy.

O’Malley’s only solution remaining is to limp through the 2010 elections and then immediately raise taxes. This week, Democrats are on a budgetary media offensive. O’Malley has done a good job managing the budget in tough times and there is nowhere else to cut (Speaker Michael Busch on WBAL’s C4 show). We need to raise revenues by taxing those who have the revenues to pay – such as Johns Hopkins and other non-profits (Senator Lisa Gladden on WEAA’s Marc Steiner show). Increasing the alcohol tax and renewing the surcharge on high income earners are key components to the Democrats’ search for “new revenue enhancements.”

What is a stressed Maryland taxpayer to do? Senator Andy Harris has a different solution. It is to create a restraint on spending by making it harder for legislators to raise taxes.

Senate Bill 712 – Maryland Taxpayer Protection Act is co-sponsored by the entire Senate Republican Caucus. The bill would allow a voter referendum on a Constitution Amendment to require a super-majority vote in order to create a new tax or increase an existing tax. If passed, the General Assembly could not increase taxes unless each chamber voted at a 3/5ths majority (29 of 47 Senators and 85 of 141 Delegates).

In a survey conducted last year by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, 67% of voters statewide support legislation to require a super-majority vote in the state legislature to pass any tax increase. Only 29% oppose such a change and 4% offered no response. Every category of party affiliation, race and geographic location supported this bill.

Even Democrats polled supported a super-majority vote by 57% to 39%. Unfortunately, the Democrats who don’t support it are in the General Assembly.