COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) - Business leaders will join Gov. Martin O'Malley and other elected officials to discuss the future of transportation funding in Maryland.

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The roundtable discussion is scheduled for Friday morning in Columbia.
Business leaders have been critical of spending transfers away from Maryland's Transportation Trust Fund to fill budget holes.

In February, a 28-member state commission on transportation funding recommended that the state raise $800 million to shore up the trust fund.

The panel was not specific about how the money should be raised, but it passed on a list of recommendations to lawmakers and the governor to consider. A bill that would have raised the gas tax in the last legislative session did not pass.

Maryland has a $40 billion backlog in a variety of planned, unfunded transportation projects.