More Details Emerge on Maryland Governor's Tax Plan
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley continues to release details of his ambitious revenue-raising plan, which would use income tax, sales tax, cigarette tax and gambling revenues to close a $1.7 billion structural budget deficit. The latest wrinkle: a progressive low-income sales tax credit, which would offset a small part of the O'Malley plan's sales tax increase by giving each household earning less than $30,000 a $50 tax credit.
But the most controversial part of the O'Malley package -- allowing slot machines at Maryland race tracks -- ran into a major road bump this week, as Maryland Senate Republicans signaled that they would not support slots as part of a tax package. Since slots would ultimately account for close to a third of the revenues from O'Malley's proposal, this casts doubt on whether O'Malley's planned special legislative session for tax reform will take place this fall. The Baltimore Sun thinks that's a good thing. The Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein has a level-headed critique of the governor's plan here.
