By Adam Pagnucco.
In his Friday evening message, County Executive Marc Elrich offered a number of blunt comments on the Capitals and Wizards moving to Virginia, on Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s leadership and on how Northern Virginia is “eating our lunch” by being able to pay for transportation projects in ways “that we never could do.” As you might expect, I have a few opinions to offer on these subjects. But in this post, let’s just turn it over to the county executive for now.
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Elrich makes his remarks on YouTube.
Dear Friends,
I spent time at the Metropolitan Council of Governments annual meeting this week and we had a lot to talk about. Financial concerns lie ahead for Metro and the Maryland Department of Transportation that will certainly have us adjusting to things like cuts in public transportation service or delays to road projects we have been anticipating.
Then there is what seems to be the talk of the town—the announced move of the Capitals and Wizards from Downtown Washington to Northern Virginia.
I do not understand why so many jurisdictions vie to give billions of dollars to billionaire owners, particularly when we have much bigger needs. Money for new arenas and stadiums compete for major projects that improve and invest in our community like transportation and schools.
Ironically, the Virginia Governor touted that the new stadium would be near a metro station and yet he has not shown leadership to help fund the major funding gap for Metro (WMATA).
Metro CEO Randy Clarke laid out a grim scenario if the $750 million budget gap is not filled: up to 10 stations with the lowest ridership could be closed (this could include the Potomac Yard Station, where the new arena would go), 67 bus lines and 2,000 jobs could be cut. This would be a disaster. We need to improve and increase our transit, not dismantle it. Transit is critical to addressing our traffic problems and providing environmentally friendly transportation, and it is a proven economic development tool.
At the same time, the state has announced a grim transportation funding scenario. However, understanding the importance of WMATA, Governor Wes Moore has announced an increase of $150 million in funding to WMATA for the next two fiscal years and then $250 million for the following year and beyond. The District of Columbia and Northern Virginia need to also step up and help our regional mass transit system.
Despite the cuts announced for other state transportation efforts, I don’t think that’s the end of the story. Governor Moore says we all have to come together with State lawmakers in the General Assembly to prevent losing too much ground on our infrastructure projects. It is a real problem for us not to be able to provide major transportation projects. We are dependent on the State, and the State model for transportation funding, which relies on a dwindling gas tax, and is not sustainable. Transportation projects are an investment in necessary infrastructure and funding them is a major economic imperative.
Northern Virginia understands this and currently, it is “eating our lunch.” Through its taxing structure, it has been able to fund and build projects that we never could do. In fact, years ago, elected leaders and business leaders in Northern Virginia went to the state and asked for the authority to create special taxing districts specifically designed for transportation projects. The taxes do not drive the developers or businesses away because they realize the value in spending on transit, roads and other improvements.
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Elrich’s full remarks, including on other subjects, can be found here.