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The morning after the election, I shared this message on social media: Congratulations to all of last night’s winners from school board on up. And thanks to all of the candidates who did not make it but put themselves out there to make their town, county, state, and/or nation a better place. I am sure many of you were thrilled by some results and dismayed by others. Readers of my emails know where I stand and who I support. Typically, the local school board races have more of a direct impact on a lot of our lives than the presidential race--as important as our national leader is. But the incoming president's approach could mean turbulent times for Maryland. Even if you are not a federal employee, our area is a "company town" and that company is the federal government. Many jobs around here are direct federal or military jobs, involve federal contracting, or are in some direct or indirect way tied to the federal government (more on that in the economic update below). Moreover, I think of this quote from General James Mattis in 2020: “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people —does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us” Hopefully, the second term will be different than the first but based on the announced plans and appointees so far, I am not optimistic. What this means for our federal workers, funding for Maryland priorities like rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge, relocating the FBI to Maryland, and so on remains to be seen. All of that said, this is a good time to put national politics out of mind and enjoy your families and Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving! UPCOMING DISTRICT 16 MEETINGS There are two upcoming dates to engage with me and the rest of the District 16 Team. On Monday, December 2nd at 7:30am, we will be online with the Bethesda Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club to talk about the upcoming legislative session and take questions. Email [email protected] for the meeting link. Then on Saturday, January 4th at 4pm, we will be participating in an in-person legislative send-off with the District 16 Democratic Club at the Carderock Springs Swim & Tennis Club. I hope to see you there.  LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Every year the non-partisan Department of Legislative Services publishes Issue Papers that explain some of the key matters the General Assembly will deal with next legislative session. Read the 2025 Issue Papers here. ---- The House Environment and Transportation Committee that I chair recently held a briefing with Attorney General Anthony Brown on the state's legal claims related to the Francis Scott Key Bridge. In September, Maryland filed a suit for damages against the owners of the cargo vessel that crashed into the bridge. You can watch the hearing here. ---- Each fall the Montgomery County Delegation has a series of meetings virtually and in Rockville to lead into the next legislative session. Two of the meetings have already occurred. The first meeting is our annual meeting with the Maryland Department of Transportation about the transportation budget's impact on Montgomery County. You can watch the District 16-specific comments here. The full meeting is also online. The second meeting is the Joint Priorities hearing, sometimes referred to as Open Mic Night It is a chance for constituents to tell the 35 member Montgomery County House and Senate Delegations what you want us to work on. You can watch this year's hearing here. The remaining two meetings relate to local and bicounty bills that will be considered by the Montgomery County Delegation. These bills are now available online and either impact only Montgomery County or our bicounty entities such as Park & Planning. The bills are here. As shown in the graphic below, bill hearings will be on December 9th and 16th. I am the sponsor of the WSSC Transparency and Reform Act to make changes to WSSC governance and processes and provide for further review of how WSSC functions. You can read it here.  BUDGET UPDATE The Spending Affordability Committee met for its first of two annual meetings recently. I used to chair this special committee that sets the guidelines for our annual budget process. The first of the two meetings is the annual update on the state economic and budget outlook. You can watch the full briefing here: https://tinyurl.com/4x55pmcx And read the full report here: https://tinyurl.com/ysjpz956 I like to share the good, the bad and the ugly so I will say this was not a good report. We will tackle it and have our usual balanced budget but there are some clouds ahead. First, overall growth in the state is not strong although we have a healthy--if stagnant--underlying economy with a low unemployment rate. The data on private sector jobs is contradictory and the Department of Legislative Services believes that data will be revised upward (Pages 1-3 of the report). Second, the budget outlook is poor with large structural deficits. Unlike the federal government, we do not run an operating deficit each year but even when we balance for the current budget year, future structural deficits may remain depending on what tools we used to balance the budget. What is driving the budget deficits is, largely, major investments including in pre-K through 12 education. We are not seeing budget write-downs or unexpected costs, this is the cost of a major investment we have made to make our schools much better (Pages 13-18 of the report). Third, one of the storm clouds is the impact the Trump II presidency may have on a state very reliant on federal jobs and contracts. Lots of unknowns there at this point (Page 4 of the report). Fourth, we made some transportation revenue increases last year that have been successful in raising funds and avoiding some of the worst cuts to transportation, although the overall problem is far from solved to even do the currently planned construction program to say nothing of other major investments people want (Pages 21-25 of the report) Fifth, our state staffing crisis continues with an overall double digit vacancy rate. One piece of good news is some agencies are doing much better. In October of 2022, for example, the Department of Transportation had a 10.6% vacancy rate. Now it is 6.8% (Page 36 of the report). Sixth, our capital (construction) budget plans are within the state's debt affordability limits, which is good news (Page 26 of the report). There is a lot more in the report and presentation for any wonks interested in diving in. TRANSPORTATION UPDATE Metro recently advanced the Better Bus Network, a revenue neutral bus network redesign. One of the examples of adjustments made to the plan based on feedback was keeping the J2 (soon to be M70) on its current alignment and not cut off service to existing riders. The Maplewood community in particular raised concerns about losing service. We worked with the State Highway Administration and County Department of Transportation on signal and sign changes at Cedar and Wisconsin to allow the current route to continue in use. The J2 line supports an average of 5,287 riders on weekdays, 3,940 riders on Saturdays, and 3,004 riders on Sundays according to Metro data. The full Metro packet on the Better Bus Network is here for those who are interested.   ----- A Corridor Needs Analysis for River Road/MD-190 has been released by the State Highway Administration. Go to this site and scroll down to “Summer 2024 - MD 190 Needs Analysis” to review the short, medium, and long term recommendations. A virtual meeting will be hosted by the District 16 legislators and Councilmember Friedson with the State Highway Administration on Tuesday, December 17th at 6pm. RSVP here to get the link to the meeting. The segment of River Road covered is Springfield to Little Falls Pkwy. That does not mean other segments don’t warrant this type of safety review but this was a place to start because of several deaths—including Sarah Langenkamp and Marge Wydro—and other incidents.  ----- The bike lanes on Old Georgetown Road have generated a lot of concern and controversy. Ultimately, State Highway installed them as a safety feature not only for cyclists but also to create a buffer between car traffic and the sidewalks in the aftermath of the deaths of two young people along the road. Recognizing the community concern, the General Assembly asked the State Highway Administration to prepare and submit an update report on the lanes, which you can read here. COMMUNITY NEWS On December 4th at 6pm, the National Park Service will hold a virtual meeting regarding Glen Echo Park. Here is the meeting link.  -----
Park & Planning will host a virtual meeting on the Friendship Heights Sector Plan Update on December 3rd, from 7 to 9 p.m. on Zoom, RSVP to receive a meeting link and find more information at: montgomeryplanning.org/fhsp. ----- Park & Planning is working on a refresh of Merrimac Neighborhood Park, something the District 16 legislators obtained funding for in the state budget. Read the latest on the project here. ----- District 16 resident Ben Ross recently published an article about the manipulation of traffic models in project planning. Read the article here. ----- Congratulations to Friendship Heights Mayor Melanie Rose White on being inducted into the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame. ----- Several District 16 residents have been appointed or re-appointed to County Boards and Commissions. Congratulations to: -Frances Marshall, Board of Social Services -Constance Mordecai, Commission on Children and Youth -Ellyce Butuyan, Commission on Children and Youth -David B. Lieb, Bethesda Downtown Plan Advisory Panel ----- And congratulations to District 16's Rose Li on being named the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Leader of the Year. Comments are closed.
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