On February 3, MACo President MC Keegan-Ayer, Executive Director Michael Sanderson, and many local officials testified before the Budget and Taxation Committee in support of SB 288 – Transportation – Highway User Revenues Capital Grants – Calculation. 

This bill would prevent a nearly $100 million reduction in local transportation funding scheduled to take effect in fiscal 2028 in the absence of this bill’s enactment. Without this bill, Highway User Revenues (HUR) for counties, Baltimore City, and municipalities would drop sharply in a single year, resetting local transportation funding at a permanently lower baseline.

MACo President MC Keegan-Ayer, and a wave of other local officials, all supported the bill, urging that the looming drop in funding would leave local roads far short of needed funding for safety and maintenance costs.

From MACo Testimony: 

The bill preserves stability in the state-local transportation partnership by maintaining the existing Highway User Revenues distribution structure. It avoids resetting local transportation funding to a lower baseline, which would make future alignment between state transportation revenues and local system responsibilities more difficult.

More on MACo’s Advocacy: 

• Follow MACo’s advocacy efforts during the 2026 legislative session on MACo’s Legislative Tracking Database
• Learn more about MACo’s 2026 Legislative Initiatives
• Read more General Assembly News on MACo’s Conduit Street blog