Wild Political Times - July Update

​Dear Friend:
My last update was on June 24th and a lot has happened since then in our politics.
First, the former president faced an assassination attempt. No clear motive has been assigned yet--and recall that both President Reagan and Congresswoman Giffords were shot for apolitical reasons (although we do not know what happened here yet)--but violence is never the answer in the United States to any political disagreements.
Second, President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. The events are still unfolding, but as a political history nerd, the 24 hours that followed President Biden's announcement brought to mind events from 1956 for me. At that year's Democratic Convention, the nominee Adlai Stevenson announced that he was throwing the choice of Vice President to the convention delegates. What followed was 24 hours of hectic organizing and whipping by the aspirants including John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Al Gore, Sr. and, the eventual winner, Estes Kefauver. Vice President Harris probably had the most exciting 24 hours of organizing in presidential politics since then.
And closer to home, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee selected Teresa Woorman to succeed Sara Love as a District 16 Delegate. Her name is now awaiting action by Governor Moore. You can read about her selection here.
 
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A large number of the bills passed each legislative session become effective on July 1st (also the start of the fiscal year).  You can see a list of such laws here.

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE
 Last week, the Transportation Planning Board (a regional board on which I serve) awarded $1.2 million in federal Carbon Reduction Program funds for preliminary engineering of River Road improvements in the area where Sarah Langenkamp was killed in a bike lane.  Below is the scope of that work from the State Highway Administration (SHA).
Scope of Work for Preliminary Engineering (MD 190 between Brookside Drive and Little Falls Parkway) 
Near-Term Improvements
Potential improvement options throughout Segment 2 target improvements at intersections, including upgrading pavement markings, improving signal timings for vehicular and pedestrian safety, and improving awareness of bicyclists with signing installation. These potential signal timing improvements include lengthening the allotted time for pedestrians to cross MD 190 and lengthening the timing for vehicles to clear through the intersection after the light turns green.
At the time of this analysis, the intersection of MD 190 at Brookside Drive was a three-legged intersection with the south leg closed due to the construction of Westbard Avenue. The intersection contains high volumes of pedestrians and bicyclists and will need to be evaluated once the south leg is reopened to traffic.
Potential segment improvements include separating parked vehicles at businesses by providing a separating system, such as flex posts, at key locations where turning conflicts are present. To keep bicycle lanes clear, restricting vehicles from parking on the roadway to load/unload may be considered.
Mid-Term Improvements
The intersection of MD 190 at Kenwood Station is a pedestrian generator with direct access to the shopping center on the north leg. To protect non-motorists, potential treatment options include restricting right turns on red from the shopping center to avoid conflicts with pedestrians within the crosswalk, modifying signal timings to allow more crossing time for pedestrians, and installing a hardened centerline to slow down turning vehicles into the shopping center. All potential improvements shall be studied further prior to implementation.
There are opportunities for mid-term improvements at the uncontrolled crosswalk under the Capital Crescent Trail bridge, including realigning the crosswalk and providing a median refuge to create a shorter crossing distance and providing pushbuttons and pedestrian hybrid beacons to provide a protected crossing. Challenges for the development of this mid-term improvement include utility conflicts and maintaining driveway access for businesses.
Several improvement options could be implemented throughout the whole segment, including relocating obstructions within the sidewalk to maximize sidewalk width for pedestrian comfort, modifying the existing bicycle lane to a buffered bicycle lane (connecting to Segment 1) by reducing lane widths and providing space between vehicular traffic and bicycle traffic, and reducing the speed limit within the segment and further east to slow down vehicles thereby improving safety for all road users.
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As a result of language in the state budget, the Maryland Transit Administration submits a bimonthly progress report on the Purple Line. The summary charts are below and there has been no change to the milestone schedule since the last report. The full report is available here.

​BUDGET UPDATE 
When the General Assembly is not in session, the Board of Public Works (Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer) have limited authority to make budget reductions. A few weeks ago, $150 million in reductions were posted and then voted on seven days later. You can review the changes here.
These budget reductions used to occur in the dark and the public would not know what the cuts were until after they were made. But bills I sponsored made this process transparent with seven day notice and line item detail of the reductions proposed.
Many of the programs facing reductions are ones I support, like housing vouchers. But we must maintain a balanced budget in Maryland which means difficult choices and setting priorities. In this case, we found that Medicaid (healthcare for those in need) and childcare programs were oversubscribed, so these cuts were made to shift the money to support these programs.

COMMUNITY NEWS
The County's 2017 Bethesda Downtown Plan required a "check-in" when the area got to 30 million square feet of development--approaching a cap of 32.4 million square feet. The Planning Board recently approved the scope of work for that check-in (known as a Minor Master Plan Amendment).
You can read the full document here.
You can watch the presentation and Planning Board consideration here (starts at 5:15:13).
A series of community meetings are also being held:
Tuesday, July 30, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the large meeting room at the Connie Morella Library (7400 Arlington Road, Bethesda, MD).
Wednesday, August 14, at 7 p.m. (Virtual). RVSPs are required to receive a meeting link.
Saturday, August 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Chevy Chase Town Hall (4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase, MD).
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Long-time Democratic Precinct Official--and, personally, one of my earliest supporters--Jon Weintraub recently passed away. Jon had a long career in the federal government both on Capitol Hill and at the Department of Education. Learn more about Jon here.
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Congratulations to District 16's Kavita Mohan and James Montgomery on their appointment and re-appointment to the Montgomery County Library Board.
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And congratulations to former County Councilmember and Bethesda resident Bruce Adams on winning the Montgomery Serves Neal Potter Path of Achievement Award. Learn more about it here.