Congress largely insulated the Washington region from $38 billion in federal budget cuts, allowing a plan to restore the Chesapeake Bay to move forward and appropriating $300 million to help ease traffic around military sites in Bethesda and Fort Belvoir. The $1.05 trillion budget deal struck late Friday night — for which details began to emerge Tuesday — saves many of the programs that the Republican-led House slashed in February.
The budget deal axes language that would have blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from carrying out its Chesapeake Bay cleanup program.
It also further allocates $300 million for road and transit improvements surrounding Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center and Fairfax County’s Fort Belvoir, areas that are expected to attract thousands more workers and visitors
under the Base Realignment and Closure process.
| Federal budget deal in D.C. |
| • Strips language that would obstruct the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing a federal plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay |
| • Includes $300 million to help Virginia and Maryland with traffic improvements associated with the Base Realignment and Closure process around the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and Fort Belvoir in Virginia |
| • Includes $77 million for D.C. schools |
| • Includes $150 million in federal funding for Metro, to be matched by $50 million each from the District, Maryland and Virginia |
The proposal restores $150 million in planned cuts to Metro. Without the federal funding, the Metro system would have lost $50 million in matching grants from Maryland, Virginia and the District.
“I’m extremely pleased that we were able to put ideology aside to make sure Metro has the funding it needs to keep operating safely and efficiently,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
But the bill would jeopardize needed improvements to Maryland’s aging rails by eliminating all new federal funding for states’ rail projects.
Maryland applied for $415 million in federal funding in early April to improve Amtrak rail infrastructure and plan for the replacement
of three 100-year-old rail bridges.
“The competition for federal dollars just got much more competitive by the reduction in federal funding,” said Jack Cahalan, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. The state still has a chance to win the money, because the federal government already had set aside the appropriation after Florida officials decided not to build a high-speed rail with the money.
Meanwhile, D.C. would be hit with a $50 million loss in federal funding with about $18 million coming from the courts and $9 million from the Water and Sewer Authority.
D.C. Courts spokeswoman Leah H. Gurowitz said the reduced funding would delay building renovations and upgrades.
“In addition, as with federal workers, no funding is provided for cost-of-living adjustments for the courts’ employees,” Gurowitz said.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said the budget deal unfairly targets D.C.
“The District of Columbia gets dissed in this budget, once again, by the Republican majority who has a real attitude about the District,” Connolly said. “I think that’s most unfortunate.”
Mayor Vincent Gray and several D.C. Council members were arrested Monday while protesting District-specific measures attached to the budget deal. The measures would prevent D.C. from using federal money for abortions and would restore the D.C. schools voucher program for low-income students.
Virginia, meanwhile, could feel some heartburn from a proposed $300 million in cuts to Community Oriented Policing Services programs that help fund local law enforcement agencies.
“I understand we’re taking a hit,” said Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. “It’s very difficult for me to say where the impact stops.”
The National Park Service, which maintains many public areas in D.C., would fare much better, according to spokesman Jeffrey Olson.
“We have been watching spending,” Olson said. “As far as visitors are concerned, what they are going to see isn’t going to be any different from the [previous] year.” The parks agency’s budget would be cut by less than 1 percent from last year’s appropriation.
