Yesterday, Judge Thomas F. Stansfield dismissed the lawsuit challenging Maryland’s $2 billion tax increase. “Although the Court is inclined to agree with the Plaintiffs regarding the reprehensible nature in which the Legislature conducted itself, the remedy they seek in redress is too drastic a notion to accept,” the judge said.
The five Republican lawmakers and the Carroll County (MD) businessman who brought the suit will decide today whether or not to appeal the decision.
I haven’t posted on the new taxes that citizens in Maryland face. The overwhelmingly Democratic General Assembly passed a huge tax increase last November. One portion of the increase is an increase in the state’s sales tax.
But a problem has surfaced: Maryland Republicans have filed a lawsuit to stop the tax increase. According to this report by WJZ, the Maryland Senate took five days off during the special session (called to have the tax increases passed) without permission of the General Assembly. Apparently the Maryland state constitution prohibits such a vacation.
Senator Allan Kittleman told WJZ, “This is actually an attempt to make sure that we have transparent government, that we have integrity in our government and that the rule of law is kept.” But Maryland Democrats say the whole thing is a bunch of hot air.
Meanwhile, if you live in Maryland you’re paying higher taxes. It’s possible you won’t be paying as much after a judge rules (likely in the next two weeks) on the lawsuit. Of course, it’s only a technicality….
