Maryland Senate moving fast on Metro safety bill

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ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Senate on Tuesday acted to stave off the potential loss of millions in federal transportation funding after the state missed a deadline to create a safety board to oversee the Washington area’s Metro system.

Federal transportation officials demanded that Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia create an oversight agency for the troubled system, setting a Feb. 9 deadline. All three bills must be identical.

So far, only the District has passed such a measure, which was signed into law last week. Virginia’s bill passed its House and was sent to the state Senate.

Some Maryland senators expressed eagerness to address the issue.

“I’m very excited that we took complete control of the situation and we said, ‘We’re not going to futz around waiting for the House to move some piece of legislation over here. We’re going to take control right here, right now,'” said Sen. Brian J. Feldman, D-Montgomery County.

Senators on Monday had delayed Feldman’s bill, which would establish how the state appoints members to the board. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., in profane public comments directed at one state transportation official, expressed anger over the potential loss of nearly $5 million in federal funding. The Senate leader later apologized for the remarks.

Miller, speaking with a reporter Monday night after the meeting, identified the transportation official as Kevin Reigrut, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority.

Erin Henson, a spokeswoman for the department, defended Reigrut, saying “nobody worked harder.”

“Kevin Reigrut worked with our partners in Maryland and Virginia for hundreds of hours over the last year to get this legislation drafted,” Henson said. “He also has had robust engagement with the General Assembly on this legislation, including working with Senator Feldman, Delegate Barron and Delegate Korman.”

In an Aug. 30 letter to then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Maryland Transportation Secretary Pete K. Rahn asked the agency to reconsider its deadline and noted that the three jurisdictions were working to develop an agreement.

“We fully intend that this diligent process will end in legislation being introduced in the Maryland General Assembly in the 2017 legislative session,” Rahn wrote. “Even if taken up and considered at the earliest possible opportunity, the political and logistical realities of our General Assembly calendar, like that in Virginia, will simply not allow us to meet your deadline.”

A bill requested by Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration remains in the House Environment and Transportation Committee.

Feldman said he and other Maryland officials had been acting on the understanding that last week’s deadline was not a firm one.

“In fact, that deadline was not a soft deadline, it was a hard deadline,” Feldman said, noting that new U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao sent a letter Friday to the three jurisdictions stating that millions in funding would be withheld.

“We need to get it out of here, we need to get that $4.8 million in federal transit money,” Feldman said. “This is a big, big deal.”

Del. Kumar Barve, D-Montgomery and chairman of the committee, said the bill is being delayed in an effort to make sure it confirms to federal requirements.

“We’re working with the Maryland Department of Transportation to make sure that the bill we pass is in keeping with the federal communication of guidelines because, ostensibly, we’re going to have three bills, three jurisdictions, the bills must be correct and they have to be identical,” Barve said. “So, D.C. passed a law and they’re a year-round legislature so they can do that … our staffers aren’t convinced that’s exactly what the federal government wants to see.”

Barve added that there is no urgency on the part of the House to pass legislation, and he called the Feb. 9 cutoff “an arbitrary deadline.” Barve said the federal government should have known the Virginia and Maryland legislatures meet in in January and have transparency rules.

“We can’t just pass a law in 15 minutes,” said Barve. “The federal DOT should have taken into account the timeline of two state legislatures.”

Barve said September is “the real effectual date for when the action has to take place,” adding that the General Assembly has time to resolve the issue.

“This is not a panic, OK?” Barve said. “We have to be correct, we have to be identical. We have to be done by the end of session. The sense of panic is a little misplaced.”