Maryland State Del. Marc Korman kicked off his testimony before colleagues in Annapolis by declaring, “It’s a fee bill.”
He was referring to his proposal to add 50-cent fees on retail orders that are delivered to homes and adding the same fee on transportation network companies, which he said “is nerd-talk for Uber and Lyft.”
Explaining why he’s proposing a new fee in a General Assembly session where legislative leaders have been resisting tax increases, Korman explained, “We have a problem.”
That problem is a gaping 6-year, $3 billion transportation deficit across the state and it doesn’t include deferred projects such as the Red Line in Baltimore or Interstate 270 in Montgomery County.
Under House Bill 1215, when consumers order goods online, they would be assessed a 50-cent fee per transaction. Korman said that would be the case even if products from the same customer order were delivered in several different trips.
Korman also said that the fee would be assessed on taxable items. “So if you were having just store groceries delivered, it would not apply because there’s no sales tax there,” he said, adding that if a customer were buying items like sneakers, the fee would be applied to that purchase.
Korman explained why the bill targets the delivery of goods from online retailers. “The delivery vans and trucks are tearing up our roads, and the impact of those, believe it or not, is actually higher than if people just drove themselves to the market.”
Cailey Locklair with the Maryland Retailers Association testified in opposition to the bill. Locklair called the fees “a regressive tax,” adding that “increasing prices for consumers and compliance costs for businesses will make it even harder for small businesses to grow and compete.”
According to the fiscal note attached to the legislation, if enacted, the fees could generate a projected $248 million for the transportation trust fund by fiscal year 2029.
If enacted, the law would go into effect July 1, 2025.
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