Not the budget: Other legislation of note

The 2013 regular session of the legislature concluded on midnight Monday. During the course of the session, the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute took positions on a variety of bills related to Maryland’s finances and their effects on low-income and other vulnerable Marylanders.

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Here is the run-down:

Transportation

The legislature enacted a much-needed transportation bill (House Bill (HB) 1515) that gradually increases taxes on gasoline to replenish the state’s transportation fund, allowing Maryland to improve roads, bridges, transit systems, and bicycle and pedestrian passageways.

MBTPI supported this legislation as a responsible compromise. 

However, there are two concerns we have about the bill. One we discussed in yesterday’s blog. The bill calls for a portion of the sales tax to be diverted from general fund purposes (like education, healthcare, and police) to transportation once Congress allows states to collect taxes on internet and catalog purchases.

The other concern we had is that the gas tax places a disproportionate cost on low-income working families. To address this regressive effect, we supported bills to expand Maryland’s earned income tax credit (HB 845/Senate Bill (SB) 703).  Unfortunately, these bills died in committee.

Homeless Youth

MBTPI supported HB 823/SB 764 to create a task force to find solutions for the growing problem of unaccompanied homeless youth.  The legislature enacted these bills. MBTPI will be following the task force’s work closely. We expect the task force to develop creative and effective initiatives to help these teens and young adults.

Making Welfare to Work Workable

MBTPI supported and the legislature enacted SB 686 to establish an earned income disregard pilot program. Currently, Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) recipients lose 60 cents in benefits for every dollar they earn when they join the workforce, even though those exiting TCA on average earn less than the federal poverty rate. SB 686 creates a pilot program in a rural county to research the impact of reducing the earned income disregard when recipients initially enter the workforce. The pilot program would ease the transition from TCA to self-sufficiency by disregarding (for the purposes of TCA eligibility) 100 percent of their earned income for the first three months of employment, disregarding 60 percent of their earned income for the following six months, and disregarding 40 percent (the current standard) afterwards. A graduated disregard would help TCA parents succeed when they enter the workforce, encouraging personal responsibility and helping families achieve independence. The pilot program will allow this policy to be tested and evaluated.

Tomorrow we'll look at some of the bills we supported that didn't make it through the legislative process.