Same Sport, Different Style of Play - Weekly Update

I have loved all ten of my legislative sessions as a District 16 Delegate, but serving as a committee chair this legislative session is a very different experience than the nine that came before. As I have been telling people, it is the same sport but a totally different style of play. If you're a baseball person, think about going from the dead ball era of hitting to the late 1990s home run bonanza in a year.
In addition to my own legislative agenda, I now feel responsible for the 387 pieces of legislation (and rising) in my committee's hands. I am learning a lot about the legislative process from this seat that I never fully understood before, including the limits of time and staff capacity. The committees are staffed by legislative counsel from the Department of Legislative Services. The three counsel on my committee are excellent and experienced. For two of them, I am their third chair as they have worked on the committee for decades. But with almost 400 bills to work through, we need to triage and prioritize what can reasonably be worked on by three people. We are a week and a half from crossover--the day bills are supposed to pass one chamber to get a hearing in the other--and we are feeling the ticking clock as we work to perfect the bills before us.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
​Last week I had three bill hearings on legislation I am sponsoring. 
The simplest of the three was legislation renaming the Port of Baltimore. Former Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich and Hogan-era Transportation Secretary Jim Ports testified in support of the bill, which I must say is not my usual witness panel!
More challenging were the hearings I had for bills to help our transportation funding challenge. Right now we are facing an approximately $3 billion shortfall for transportation over six years which means no new construction, fewer Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) office hours, reduced road and transit aid for the counties, less mowing and cleaning along state highways and other cuts. And that is all before we try to do major projects people are asking for like the American Legion Bridge or significant MARC Brunswick line improvements. Why the shortfall? There are many factors but inflation and reduced motor fuel/gas tax revenue because of improved fuel efficiency--combined with adoption of zero emission vehicles--are both major contributors. Part of my mission this legislative session has been to offer up ideas for transportation funding and two of those ideas had hearings last week.  I do not relish needing to introduce bills and policies such as these, but I believe they are necessary at this stage to have the type of transportation network many of you have expressed support for.
The Toll Rate Reform Act would follow the lead of states like Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia and leverage our toll facilities for broader transportation needs. You can watch the hearing here. If this sounds familiar, it is because I have proposed something similar before to fund transit projects.
The Transportation Funding Act of 2024 would use two fees to fund transportation. One is a statewide 50 cent fee on Transportation Network Company (ride-hailing company) trips, which would be in addition to the local 25 cent fee already levied in Montgomery County. The other is a 50 cent fee on e-commerce deliveries. Each of these policies have been undertaken in other states. You can watch that hearing here.
PURPLE LINE UPDATE
On March 13, the Board of Public Works will consider another change order on the Purple Line. The project cost is going up by $425 million over five years and the opening date is being delayed from summer 2027 to late 2027. Why is this occurring? It goes back to a few years ago when the project was between contractors and the state agreed to undertake utility work, most of which did not occur when it was supposed to. This change order puts that issue behind the project. You can read more starting on page 75 of the BPW agenda.
COMMUNITY NEWS
Tomorrow (March 7), the Planning Board will be briefed on the results of the Friendship Heights Urban Design Study. You can read the study here.
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The B-CC High School annual used book sale is Saturday, March 9th, 10am-5pm and Sunday, March 10th, 10am-3pm.
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Montgomery County Parks will hold a virtual meeting to discuss proposed renovations at Merrimac Neighborhood Park. The meeting is on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. Register to attend here.
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The Bethesda Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club's next meeting is with District 18 state legislators on April 10th at 7:30am. To obtain the link for the meeting, please email [email protected]:
BOOK CORNER
Since I used a baseball reference above and we are deep into Spring Training, I will venture away from my usual political recommendations and tell you about Where They Ain't by Burt Solomon. Long before the current Baltimore Orioles came to town in 1954, there was a professional Baltimore Orioles from 1882-1899 and again from 1901-1902 (the team ultimately became the Yankees). The old Orioles had some true titans of baseball past including John McGraw and Wee Willie Keeler. This is a fun book for local baseball fans about that long ago team which was fairly dominant in those pre-World Series days.