Ultimately, readying for the growth the Base Realignment and Closure Act will bring intertwines with all other key Maryland priorities this year, Gov. Martin O’Malley told Senate and congressional leadership Wednesday.
In his first appearance before Maryland’s full U.S. congressional delegation, O’Malley gave an update on his four major target areas — transportation, the Chesapeake Bay, health care and education, and homeland security — in nearly every case emphasizing the effect of BRAC-related population surges on those issues.
“Really, these priorities are molded by the increased growth coming because of the military bases,” he told a panel that included senators and representatives. “Our job is to harness that growth … and to promote smart growth for those people that are coming.”
Bringing the issue down to a local level, Maryland’s District 8 Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, spoke to concerns from Bethesda constituents about the traffic setbacks likely to come with the National Naval Medical Center upgrades.
Projections indicate that Montgomery County trails several other jurisdictions in terms of the number of Maryland’s 46,000 BRAC-generated jobs it expects to inherit. Still, Van Hollen urged the governor not to forget that traffic congestion remains a major problem along Wisconsin Avenue.
In turn, Maryland Secretary of Transportation John Porcari said he had just met with Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and would keep the county’s traffic concerns on his radar.
O’Malley listed projects for which he seeks federal dollars in the next fiscal year budget, totaling more than $240 million. Of that, about $130 million goes to increased highway discretionary funding, $20 million is for more buses and $20 million is for expanding MARC train service.
Calling the list “robust,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said it “shows the pent-up need for transportation,” and she would like to see it prioritized even further.
In terms of homeland security, O’Malley repeatedly emphasized his hope for a $17 million transportation interoperability communications system that would allow law enforcement agencies to stay better networked in an emergency.
His plans for more performance-based measures of efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay drew praise from federal government representatives.
The meeting was a first step in pushing for federal money on state projects. The tone was overwhelmingly optimistic, yet peppered with disclaimers about the likelihood of total funding.
“This is a tough year,” Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said. “Under the president’s budget, it would be impossible to fund these needs. But we think we will pass a budget that will give some opportunity.”
