Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) and other elected officials are openly and actively pushing tax and fee increases, as well as new taxes and fees, through the General Assembly in Annapolis at the moment. Their justification for hitting already-overtaxed taxpayers in the wallet is that, well, the state is broke and has no money. Someone forgot to tell the Maryland Transit Administration, which is promoting the $7.2 billion Baltimore Red Line light rail boondoggle as if it is fully funded in a newsletter emailed out late last week.
"We've set ambitious goals for 2025," the project's director declares in the opening sentence, even as the state is at this very moment facing a nearly $3 billion shortfall. "Aerial survey mapping" is underway, and soil "field surface investigations" are scheduled to begin "soon." Meanwhile, a $457 million cut to developmental disabilities programs is under consideration, as are the elimination of itemized tax deductions, the addition of a new tax that would raise the cost of "sugary drink" 12-packs by several dollars, and the creation of a 75-cent fee on all Amazon retail and DoorDash/Uber Eats-style food deliveries.
The similar Purple Line light rail project in Montgomery and Prince George's counties has been a fiscal disaster. It is about a decade behind schedule, and has been mismanaged from the beginning. The potential ridership for it remains an open question, and any shortfall in its budget once service begins will be filled by taking money from other transit priorities. Red Line advocates - largely real estate developers, and radical war-on-cars extremists still terrified that I-70 might one day connect to downtown Baltimore like it was supposed to - have subsisted on champagne wishes and caviar dreams for 15 years. Pour another glass, and LARP along with the MTA on a project that redefines pie-in-the-sky, by and by.
7 comments:
Man, too bad this isn't happening in Virginia, then it'd magically be a great project and Youngkin would be so impressive for the speed of the project.
Pure vanity project by someone who loves spending other people's money. At some point, one would think that MD voters would get tired of tax and spend liberals but ignorance & apathy are what helps them sleep at night.
Too many on the receiving end.
the 20+% of local residents that don't have cars deserve more that a MTA But
To be completely honest, I just don't see how this is a bad thing for Baltimore or the state: Almost every stop on its path is a place that currently does not have adequate public transportation, and with Baltimore experiencing a fairly substantial resurgence in terms of both public and private investment, it would likely be an extremely popular move to finally connect East and West Baltimore using a light rail system similar to what's already in place for North and South Baltimore.
Not to mention that the only reason it's taken a decade is because Larry Hogan almost immediately put the project on life support upon entering office- we had everything set to build the thing right then and there, even federal funding, but Hogan rejected it and everything lapsed, meaning Baltimore had to completely start the process over when Wes Moore took office. Remember - the Purple Line is a Larry Hogan creation, the Red Line is not...
Indifference & Apathy
8:14 is frustrated watching Trump successes in results and polling so saying the bias against Moore has actually exposed their own.
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