His testimony before a joint hearing of the Maryland House and Senate came one day after Gov. Martin O’Malley said he would strongly consider a recommendation to increase the state’s gasoline tax by 15 cents a gallon as part of a jobs plan.

“We need to expand our investments in Maryland’s aging and overburdened infrastructure,” Brown said, adding that jobs are the state’s “most pressing need.”

O’Malley said Monday that he will consider the gas tax increase and other revenue-raising recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation Funding, which will issue its final report on Nov. 1. The increased gas tax is expected to be one of the recommendations.

“Certainly the gas tax is one way of funding the massive, underfunded transportation infrastructure needs that we have today,” Brown said, after his testimony.

The gas tax increase would likely be phased in over three years, with a 5 cent-per-gallon increase each year, said Donald Fry, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee and a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission.

The commission has also discussed increasing public transit fares and raising the cost of vehicle registration and emissions inspections as ways to address the deficit in the state’s Transportation Trust Fund.

“It’s not going to be one source. It’s going to be a combination of sources,” Fry said.

Maryland’s Transportation Trust Fund was created in 1971 as a dedicated source for transportation needs, but in past years the fund has been used to help balance the state’s budget.

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake testified yesterday at the hearing about infrastructure needs in their jurisdictions.

“All the easy options are gone. Let’s just face it,” Baker said. “So now it’s down to tough options. But we need to do it,” he said.

“Looking at the options I’ve seen out there, an increase in the gasoline tax is probably the best one that’s

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