MD Legislature: Beware the Tax Binge in Special Session

In September, the state legislature will meet to consummate the new legislative and congressional maps for the next decade.  While the liberals in Annapolis will invariably be focused on gerrymandering the scant Republican districts in the state, they will also have another, more insidious, priority on the agenda; raising taxes.

The Washington Examiner reports that Democrats are already floating trial balloons about raising a variety of taxes.  They are once again reverting to the most regressive taxes, such as sales taxes on services and other vital items that are currently exempt, such as food and medicine.

Maryland lawmakers plan to weigh new taxes on snack foods, medicine and online sales, as well as an increase in the state's gasoline tax, as they prepare for a special General Assembly session in the face of a
$1.1 billion structural deficit.

The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee will consider various revenue-generating proposals at its next meeting later this month, committee members told The Washington Examiner.
In preparation for the meeting, the committee has asked the Department of Legislative Services to draft a list of items that are exempt from the state's sales tax. The main items on the list include consumer services, such as accounting and landscaping, and necessities -- such as food and medicine, including prescription and nonprescription -- said legislative services director Warren Deschenaux.

The good news is that Maryland Democrats will be more judicious in raising taxes, in light of the successful petition drive against in-state tuition for illegals.  Either way, we must prepare for battle because they will privately focus on one tax, while using the others as red herrings.  Our vigilance must be in full gear come September.