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ROCKVILLE, MD (Sept. 15, 2023) — Last week, the Maryland Public Policy Institute published a press release warning Marylanders of likely tax hikes on the horizon, based on Gov. Wes Moore’s unwillingness to address the state’s systemic overspending. Today, the Moore administration admitted that it is exploring hiking tolls.

MPPI President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Summers issued the following statement in response to the news:

This is not an “I told you so” moment that anyone wants to happen. It will be even more expensive for working families across Maryland to get their kids to school, get to work, and go about their lives if the Maryland Transportation Authority gets its way. And I fear this will likely be the first of many new expenses heaped upon Marylanders by their state government in the coming years.

Gov. Larry Hogan reduced the state’s exorbitant tolls in 2015. Not only was that decision one of the most popular of his administration, but it directly helped hard-working Marylanders by not overtaxing them just to drive from place to place. It is sad to see Gov. Moore break his promise not to raise taxes and reopen the tax-happy playbook of the O’Malley administration.

Gov. Moore was right when he told Maryland’s county executives that a time for discipline is needed to solve the state’s impending budget problems. Unfortunately for Marylanders, it appears that by “discipline” what the governor means is taxation.

The Maryland Public Policy Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on state policy issues. The Institute’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies at all levels of government based on principles of free enterprise, limited government, and civil society. Learn more at mdpolicy.org.