Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley wrapped up the year with a roundtable with reporters on Thursday, where he said he's considering whether to ask the state legislature to raise the gas tax.
He said some tax hikes would be needed to improve the state's highway infrastructure, reported the Gazette.
On potential tax increases, the governor said, "A modern economy requires modern investments in order to create jobs, and that's not a Democratic or Republican idea," reported WTOP. "That's a truth that we've proven out as a people time and time again."
O'Malley took a "hard line" on septic systems, said a piece in the Baltimore Sun, promising a push to curb large housing developments that are on septics.
O'Malley also said he would introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
Asked Thursday about donations his campaign received from convicted tax evader Richard Stewart, the governor said he would give away the funds.
* Loose Lips got a look at an audit of D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray's transition and inauguration fund, and found tat the tab for his inaugural ball was nearly $715,000.
* How much of a Washington outsider is Texas Gov. Rick Perry? The Huffington Post DC finds that he definitely knows the places a Washington insider would frequent. A Perry watchdog group said the governor as stayed at the Willard and the Omni Shoreham while in D.C. on business, and has eaten at the city's Old Ebbitt Grill and Occidental Grill, among others.
* Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed new abortion regulations into law, making it harder for clinics to operate by requiring building renovations. The changes could close most of the state's 22 clinics, the Washington Examiner reported.
* Occupy D.C.'s lone hunger striker, Adrian Parsons, hasn't eaten in three weeks, and has lost 25 pounds, according to the Associated Press. Parsons wants voting rights in Congress for the District.
