FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 23, 2018
Media Contact:
David Smedick, (443) 789-4536, david.smedick@mdsierra.org
Sierra Club Applauds Reported Compromise to Fully Fund Metro and Support MTA
Annapolis, MD -- Yesterday, the Washington Post and Maryland Matters reported that leaders in the House of Delegates, Senate, and Governor Hogan’s administration have agreed on a plan to fully fund Maryland’s portion for the DC-area Metro system, to the tune of $167 million annual dedicated funding. The news comes after Virginia and Washington D.C. also secured their portion of the dedicated funds for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), resulting in a total of $500 million in annual dedicated funding.
Earlier in the month, the Maryland House of Delegates passed the Maryland Metro Funding Act of 2018 with a 98-40 vote. The bill provides $150 million of annual dedicated funding for the WMATA metro system and additional funds for MTA and the Baltimore region. The House bill has a hearing in the Senate on Tuesday, March 27th in the Budget and Taxation Committee, at which point the $167 million will be discussed by additional members of the General Assembly.
The transportation sector is now the largest source of dangerous climate-disrupting pollution in the country and is a large contributor of other harmful pollution like nitrogen oxides, which can be limited by expanding public transportation.
In response, David Smedick, Campaign and Policy Director at the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter, released the following statement:
“The reported commitments of support from President Miller, Speaker Busch, and Governor Hogan are a huge victory for clean transportation in Maryland. Climate pollution from tailpipes and other transportation sources is now the largest contributor to dangerous climate disruption -- Maryland and other states across the region need to take bold and innovative action to support existing, and deploy more, clean transportation solutions.
We look forward to getting this bill across the finish line and securing the full $167 million for WMATA with the additional support for other transit systems in the Baltimore area that were included in the amended House version of the bill. Every community deserves reliable, clean transportation options and we hope Maryland works internally and with neighboring states to increase investment into pollution-reducing technologies, policies, and programs for the transportation sector.”