That discussion produced "no consensus ... of any kind" on how to come up with the money to repeal the computer tax, said Del. Kumar P. Barve, the majority leader from Montgomery County who attended the meeting.
Yesterday, the governor, who has long favored a more progressive income tax, said lawmakers should consider creating a higher income tax bracket for individuals earning more than $750,000 a year.
O'Malley pushed for new top-tier income tax brackets during November's special legislative session, but his plans were watered down after objections from Montgomery County lawmakers.
Montgomery is the state's wealthiest county and a hotbed of opposition to the information technology tax.
Several Montgomery County legislators said they would oppose increased income taxes on the rich because they would disproportionately affect their constituents. Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons, a Democrat, said his county's 32-member delegation is tired of being the "whipping boy" for Maryland's revenue-starved government.
Still, an income tax increase on the rich has gained traction in recent days after Sen. Verna L. Jones, a Baltimore Democrat, introduced a bill to place a temporary surcharge on high-income Marylanders. Sen. Ulysses Currie of Prince George's County, who chairs the powerful Budget and Taxation Committee, said he would support it.
Del. Christopher B. Shank, a Western Maryland Republican and the minority whip, called the high-earners' tax "even more pernicious" than the technology tax, and said it would have no support from the GOP.
"If you were to impose this income tax on high-earners, you will chase people out of state ... just like the tech tax is about to chase entrepreneurs out of state," Shank said.
Jones' bill would create two new income tax brackets for the state's highest earners: a 6.5 percent bracket for income of more than $1 million and a 6 percent bracket for income between $750,000 and $1 million. Currently, all income of more than $500,000 is taxed at 5.5 percent.
The governor did not elaborate yesterday on budget cuts he might favor, but administration sources said yesterday that among the possible trims are 1 percent or 2 percent across-the-board cuts to all state agencies and a government-wide hiring freeze.
Associations and advocates representing the high-tech industry said they were thrilled by O'Malley's apparent about-face yesterday.
