With the end of the session drawing near and little support for applying the Governor’s originally-proposed 6% sales tax to the price of gasoline as previously proposed, Governor O’Malley is now suggesting that the general sales tax be raised by 1 cent with the resulting revenues being dedicated to transportation. As reported by the Washington Examiner:

“We have the ninth lowest sales tax in the country,” O’Malley told The Washington Examiner in an interview. “So raising that sales tax by a penny and dedicating [the revenue] to transportation funding — if the legislature and the president of the Senate and speaker of the House think that is an easier lift, I’m open to that.”

O’Malley, a Democrat, said lawmakers must find a way to raise new transportation revenues before the session ends Monday night.

The Governor’s Transportation Plan was introduced as SB 971/HB 1302.

The Governor shared similar comments with the MACo Legislative Committee during his visit on March 28.