Effort to secure $150M in dedicated Metro funding falters
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
April 16, 2009
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| Area lawmakers haven’t agreed on what terms should be required to change the compact that governs Metro. Now they may have run out of time this year. (Examiner file) |
An effort to secure $150 million in federal funds for Metro each year — in exchange for giving federal officials a voice in running the transit service — has stalled.
Maryland, Virginia and D.C. lawmakers have not yet agreed on what terms should be required to change the compact that governs the transit agency.
Now they may have run out of time to make the change this year. Both Virginia and Maryland have finished their legislative sessions, leaving behind laws that don’t match one approved earlier in the District.
The bureaucratic wrangling has a significant effect: Without all three jurisdictions passing identical amendments, the transit agency could lose out on $1.5 billion authorized by Congress to be paid out over 10 years.
“The question is: What is D.C. going to say about that?” Metro board member Christopher Zimmerman said. The District was the first to pass a change to the compact, approving the measure Feb. 2. Its version, sponsored by Metro board Chairman and D.C. Councilman Jim Graham, called for giving federal officials two votes on the Metro board only as long as $150 million was appropriated for the transit agency each year. (Each jurisdiction now has two voting seats on the board.)
The change would also require Maryland, Virginia and the District to each pay $50 million annually, providing long-sought dedicated funding for the financially struggling transit agency.
But then Virginia and Maryland legislatures each approved versions that did not make the voting for federal officials on the Metro board contingent on the federal money coming through.
Metro staff say they have not taken a position on the content of the bills. “Our position is that the jurisdictions should pass identical legislation as soon as possible because this money is urgently needed to fund maintenance and upkeep of our infrastructure,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.
Graham told The Examiner that he now needed to consult with the other Metro board members. “The bill that was passed in the District very much reflected the views of the Metro board,” he said Wednesday. “Do we want to modify our board membership on the basis of a promise?”
