Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) In a significant political change-of-heart, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan sent a letter to his counterparts in the District and Virginia, offering to put up additional funds for Metro if others do as well. Hogan’s letter comes after reports last month that he adamantly refused to give Metro any more money in a closed-door summit with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
Hogan’s plan calls for Maryland to give Metro $125 million per year over four years, if the District, Virginia, and the federal government do the same. Hogan, who has frequently mentioned what he believes is an abdication of responsibility from the feds, may be looking to unify the region in lobbying Capitol Hill to put in more money.
“…we have yet to join in a unified lobbying effort, with all three jurisdictions proactively committing to our own proposed additional funding,” Hogan wrote in his letter. “I am confident that if Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C., in addition to our congressional delegations, collectively bring this proposal to the federal government, our chance of success will be higher.”
Hogan has also mentioned his and his wife’s close friendship with President Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao, and her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Other players in the potential deal saw Hogan’s proposal as encouraging, but stopped short of fully endorsing it.
“I think it’s a very important step, and I applaud the Governor and his staff for taking that step,” Metro Board Chair Jack Evans, also a D.C. Councilmember, told WMAL. “I’m very pleased to see that Governor Hogan and his staff have recognized the value of Metro.”
Evans agreed a coordinated effort might help convince the federal government to come aboard.
“The feds can certainly do it. It’s just a question of if they want to do it, because they print their own money as you know,” he said.
However, Evans took issue with Hogan’s “backhanded comments” at the District’s support of a one-cent sales tax across the region to fund Metro.
“If Washington, D.C. wants to fulfill their obligation by taxing the poorest of its citizens, they could certainly move forward with a sales tax increase,” Hogan wrote.
Evans noted other major transit systems across the country are funded through a dedicated tax.
“I think that was uncalled for,” he said.
Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne was also pleased to see Hogan’s proposal, but expressed concern with the region hitching its wagon to the whims of the federal government.
“Regardless of what their actions are, we’ve got to come to a consensus between the three of us parties here, that actually are the people that are charged with the stewardship of this system, to make sure we find an answer,” Layne told WMAL.
Overall, Layne said he views Hogan’s proposed plan as the first step in a long journey.
“We’re continuing a process that’s going to have bends and turns until we get to the actual end of it,” he said.
The goal, Hogan wrote, is to buy more time to figure out a more permanent solution. He said he would stick to the interim plan for four years. Evans, however, said Metro cannot wait that long to have certainty over the system’s future funds. A reliable, dedicated funding source should be in place by this time next year, he said, so Metro can start borrowing money more easily.
“No, we can’t take four more years to figure this out. We need the money now,” he said. “At that point, it becomes very, very difficult to figure out how to pay for these changes at Metro.”
