Staff file photo John L. Thompson Jr. Purchase this photo

Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. persuaded his fellow board members Tuesday to ask the county's financial staff for a study of how much of residents' state taxes are returned, but the board fell short of passing a secession resolution.

"Are you willing to engage in any legislative disobedience, or just whine about it?" he asked the other commissioners.

Frederick County has been hit hard by state budget cuts, particularly in getting road maintenance money from the gas tax.

"The issue is: Would Frederick County be better off financially as its own separate entity, as a separate state, rather than be in the positions that we're in?" Thompson asked.

He believes it would.

His proposal would have called on Congress to recognize Frederick as a new state and direct staff to investigate the financial implications.

Instead, the commissioners asked staff to look into the distribution of state revenue, in the hopes of winning political arguments with state lawmakers.

Sen. David Brinkley, a state lawmaker who has criticized the state for not sending enough gas tax revenues back to Frederick County, said he believes other solutions are available.

He said that coming up with a regional sales tax to pay for transit projects in metropolitan areas would limit the drain on highway dollars, for instance.

Frederick does have a lot in common with the southern region of Maryland and the Eastern Shore, and Brinkley said the county benefits from statewide policies on growth and other issues.

"There certainly is frustration with how things come about in Annapolis," Brinkley said. "Secession, I don't think is the solution."

Though state budget cuts are no laughing matter, the commissioners did approach Thompson's proposal with a few chuckles.

Commissioner Kai Hagen joked the county should start thinking of its own state bird and tree.

The commissioners also heralded Sheriff Chuck Jenkins as the head of Frederick 's National Guard when he went to testify on the budget.

Commissioners President Jan Gardner, who was interested in the financial study of Thompson's proposal, reacted with a laugh when Thompson said it would be up to her to pass it.

"So basically you want to use my reasonableness to turn your proposal into something people will listen to?" she asked.

Thompson said he was happy with what passed -- "secession lite," he called it.

"Sometimes you don't have to enact the legislation," he said. "Sometimes you just have to say 'We're going in this direction, and here's why.'"