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Council discusses federal reconciliation impacts and state legislative proposals including bike-crosswalk bill, TNC fee increase, USDOT experimentation access,,
Summary
Councilmembers reviewed federal and state legislative priorities on July 15, asked staff to revise a draft federal letter to reflect the recent reconciliation bill, and considered state proposals including a bicyclist walk-signal bill, an increase to the TNC fee, a proposal to enable local experimentation applications to USDOT, and recodifying felony hit-and-run into the criminal code.
The Council held a discussion July 15 on federal and state legislative priorities. Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental Relations said a draft letter to U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and the congressional delegation would need revision to reflect the passage of the federal reconciliation package; staff asked council members for input on priorities to emphasize.
Council Vice President Chiwanda recommended adding a clear education funding and oversight ask tied to recent federal actions; he flagged an ongoing concern about state and federal education funding for special populations. Office staff said they will revise the letter and place it on a future council agenda for a vote after edits.
On state issues, the council reviewed several agency-proposed items:
- Bicyclist pedestrian-signal bill: MCDOT requested reintroduction of a measure allowing bicyclists in bike lanes to proceed on a pedestrian walk signal. Staff said the bill previously passed the House unanimously but stalled in the Senate and will be reintroduced.
- TNC fee increase: A request to authorize counties to raise the per-trip Transportation Network Company (TNC) fee from $0.25 to $0.50 was discussed; staff noted a prior history of similar state-level requests and said the council supported the local-authority approach.
- Experimentation access to USDOT: MCDOT described a technical problem: Maryland’s state traffic-control manual currently prevents local jurisdictions from applying directly to the U.S. Department of Transportation for experimentation waivers under the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Corey Pitts of MCDOT said this restriction has slowed projects where local jurisdictions want to test alternatives; the department is pursuing discussions with MDOT and may seek state legislation if no administrative solution is reached.
- Felony hit-and-run recodification: The Police Department proposed moving felony hit-and-run provisions from the transportation article into the criminal code so cases with serious bodily injury or death would be handled in circuit court rather than district court. Assistant Chief Dave McMane and Traffic Operations Director Warren Jensen said the change would underscore the seriousness of such offenses and make extradition of suspects easier.
County staff and legal advisors reminded the council that state-level fiscal analyses are forthcoming: the Bureau of Revenue Estimates must analyze federal tax-code changes within 60 days of passage and those estimates (and other state analyses) will inform the eventual local and state impacts. County staff said they will circulate revised federal-letter language and the council will vote on it at a future session.
