JOINT RESOLUTIONS

the central corridor of the Baltimore Metropolitan area have been submitted to the
Legislative Policy Committee by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, Senate
Finance Committee, House Committee on Appropriations, and House Committee on Ways
and Means; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the
expenditure or commitment of the remaining $29 million of the $43 million appropriation
for light rail in the central corridor of the Baltimore Metropolitan area is authorized; and
be it further

RESOLVED, That it is the intent of the General Assembly that funds for the central
corridor light rail system be expended only if maximum effort is made to secure available
federal funds; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of
Legislative Reference to the Honorable William Donald Schaefer, Governor of Maryland;
the Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., President of the Senate of Maryland; the
Honorable R. Clayton Mitchell, Jr., Speaker of the House of Delegates; the Honorable
Charles L. Benton, Secretary of the Department of Budget and Fiscal Planning, Goldstein
Treasury Building, Annapolis, Maryland; and the Honorable Richard H. Trainor, Secretary
of the Maryland Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 8755, B.W.I. Airport, Baltimore,
Maryland 21240.

Signed May 19, 1989.

No. 5
(House Joint Resolution No. 9)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Motor Fuel Tax

FOR the purpose of requesting the Congress of the United States to oppose an increase
in the federal motor fuel tax for the purpose of reducing the federal deficit or any
other purpose not related to the nation's highways.

WHEREAS, Maryland motorists currently consume approximately two billion
gallons of motor fuel annually, with 9 cents per gallon dedicated to the federal Highway
Trust Fund; and

WHEREAS, The federal motor fuel taxes are dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund,
which finances the federal highway program and a substantial portion of the federal mass
transit assistance program; and

WHEREAS, The Highway Trust Fund is required by law to be debt free, thereby
contributing in no way to the current federal deficit problem; and

WHEREAS, Congress is currently searching for ways to cut the federal budget
deficit, including consideration of legislation that would raise the existing federal excise
tax on motor fuel; and

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