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ANNAPOLIS — Local government officials and appropriators in the state legislature on Tuesday thanked Gov. Wes Moore for restoring $150 million in proposed cuts but said the solution is a “Band-Aid” for the state’s multibillion-dollar shortfall in transportation funding.
The cuts that Moore walked back this year are still planned for future years. And a long-term solution to the state’s $3.15 billion transportation funding gap isn’t expected this session.
Moore previously proposed $3.3 billion in cuts to balance the state’s six-year plan to pay for transportation projects and services. Despite the governor’s calls for trust, state lawmakers with key roles in shaping transportation policy said they planned to avoid the “harsh” cuts.
On Tuesday, Moore proposed using $150 million in one-time money from the state’s rainy day fund and a dedicated-purpose account to cushion the blow.
“This is a one-time usage,” Moore, a Democrat, said Tuesday in an interview with reporters at a Baltimore Banner event in Annapolis. “We still have to be able to work together to solve the long-term transportation challenges that exist within the state.”
Moore got support from Senate President Bill Ferguson, who said the governor has presented “the right solution for this year.”
The governor’s proposal is subject to approval from the legislature, and Ferguson said he doesn’t expect lawmakers this session to claw back more of the administration’s proposed cuts.
“The department is moving forward with a couple minor fee adjustments and recommendations. I don’t think you’ll see a major shift from where it is currently balanced,” said Ferguson, a Baltimore city Democrat.
But state appropriators and local officials said Tuesday that the administration’s proposal doesn’t represent a sustainable solution.
“It’s good timing and I think it means the administration is listening,” House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes said during a meeting Tuesday. “But, we should be clear that these restorations are not a long-term fix. They’re Band-Aids, not bridges.”
Barnes, a Democrat representing Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, said that without long-term solutions to pay for the state’s underfunded transportation plan, “we’re just going to be back here next year, facing cuts.”
Barnes’s committee on Tuesday heard from numerous county officials about how the administration’s proposed transportation cuts would hurt their jurisdictions.
“There have been instances before where it has been easy to balance the budget on the backs of Baltimoreans,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. “Previous administrations took that route, but we don’t have to take that route again.”
Scott, a Democrat, thanked Moore for restoring cuts this year but called on the governor and lawmakers to avoid the cuts in the coming years.
To restore proposed cuts, Moore has, for now, abandoned plans to freeze the local share of highway user revenues, a large portion of which comprise taxes paid on gasoline.
Maryland, like states across the country, has for decades relied on gas taxes to pay for transportation projects and services, but that revenue is projected to decline drastically as drivers transition to full or partially electric vehicles.
County and municipal governments rely on their share of gas tax revenue to pay for road projects.
Under a bill passed in 2022, the local share of highway user revenues is set to increase each of the next several years, and county and municipal leaders, including Scott, have warned state transportation officials against lowering the local share.
Funding for highway user revenue accounts for more than $50 million of the $150 million in cuts that Moore restored.
The administration has also abandoned proposed cuts to grants for locally operated transit systems and funding for commuter buses on routes with high ridership levels.
The administration restored proposed cuts to road and bridge maintenance, highway mowing and litter removal, MARC train operations, information technology and cybersecurity upgrades, Motor Vehicle Administration branch hours and contract services at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Ferguson said the state is still spending a “significant amount” to maintain a “world-class” transportation system, but there isn’t enough money available to bolster it.
Lawmakers are expected to eventually determine how the state can expand its transportation systems, including the airport, roads, bridges and transit, but doing so will require new revenue streams.
“Over the next 12 months we have to have a robust conversation about how we fund and what we want to fund in transportation moving forward,” Ferguson said. “That’s not going to happen this session.”
