Article

2015-03-22 Government

Maryland Senate unanimously approves easing 'rain tax' terms

[WASHINGTONPOST] The Maryland Senate voted unanimously Friday to no longer require that the state's largest jurisdictions charge a storm water remediation fee, which Republicans dubbed the "rain tax" on the campaign trail last year.
Martin O'Malley's legacy. Or part of it.
The legislation now moves to the House of Delegates, where there has been stronger opposition to changing the fee because Democratic leaders say they do not want to do anything that could impede the reduction of pollution reaching the Chesapeake Bay.

One of the loudest critics of the fee has been Gov. Larry Hogan (R), whose vow to kill it became his campaign rallying cry. Hogan introduced his own legislation to repeal the mandate that the state's nine most-populous counties and Baltimore City charge a fee -- while acknowledging that he did not have the power to actually eliminate this jurisdiction-level tax. But the governor's bill died in both chambers.

Just like Hogan's bill, the version introduced by Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) version gets rid of the requirement that major jurisdictions charge a fee to at least partially fund anti-pollution efforts that are mandated by the federal government. But Miller's measure requires these counties to document how much their anti-pollution programs will cost and where they will find that money.

For counties that decide to continue charging this fee -- as many plan to do -- Miller's bill would exempt some veterans organizations from having to pay. A similar exemption already exists for volunteer fire departments.

Posted by Fred 2015-03-22 00:00|| || Front Page|| [8 views ] Top

#1 Because rain belongs to G*d, not the state?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2015-03-22 14:40|| 2015-03-22 14:40|| Front Page Top

#2 In the view of liberals/progressives: There is no God, only the State.

Posted by OldSpook 2015-03-22 15:28|| 2015-03-22 15:28|| Front Page Top

#3 Well, they are still going to have maintain the systems aren't they? Seriously unless this is being used as a cash source for other uses it is IMO rather short sighted

Posted by Cheaderhead 2015-03-22 16:49|| 2015-03-22 16:49|| Front Page Top

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