COLLEGE PARK – Some Maryland drivers were not receptive to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D-Md.) Monday statement that he would be open to a 15-cent gas tax increase.
Maryland’s gas tax of 23.5 cents per gallon has not changed in two decades. Increasing the gas tax to 38.5 cents per gallon would make Maryland’s gas tax the highest in the nation.
The governor said the extra money would be used to create jobs and improve bridges and roads in Maryland.
“AAA mid-Atlantic supports a gas tax increase only with absolute assurances that the money raised from Maryland motorists is spent on transportation projects,” said Ragina Avarella, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson.
Drivers in Virginia and Pennsylvania currently pay 17.5 cents per gallon and 31.1 cents per gallon in gas taxes, respectively.
“We need to negotiate the price on that because we need to do something in the middle. We have a lot of families out there. They don’t have money and how can they commute to work?” said Catherine Newsome, a Silver Spring mother of two with a daily 40-mile commute.
The average price for a gallon of gas in Maryland was $3.36 on Tuesday.