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Maryland lawmakers hear bill to rebase and index state share of WMATA capital funding
Summary
Delegate Korman and Metro officials urged the House Appropriations Committee to rebase Maryland's dedicated capital funding for WMATA and index it to inflation so Maryland's contribution keeps pace with rising costs.
House Bill 467 would modify Maryland's dedicated capital contribution to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) by rebasing the state's share and applying a 3% growth adjustment and linkage to WMATA's operating subsidy formula, supporters said.
Delegate Korman told the House Appropriations Committee the 2018 agreement that created dedicated capital funding for Metro used a fixed $500 million regional capital target and a Maryland share of about $167 million; inflation and higher costs have eroded buying power. "That $500,000,000 was not pegged to grow in any way," he said, adding the bill would rebase Maryland's share and peg it to grow at a 3% level while aligning the state share with the WMATA operating subsidy formula.
Charlie Scott, WMATA executive, and ATU Local 689 representatives described program results since 2018: improved track safety, fleet reliability and rising customer satisfaction. Scott said retrofitted fare gates and capital upgrades produced an 82% drop in station fare evasion where retrofits were completed.
Union representatives supported the bill as a means to stabilize WMATA's capital program and protect recent safety and reliability gains. Benjamin Lin of ATU Local 689 said past investments were "a game changer" and described capital borrowing to cover operating shortfalls as a recurring risk.
Committee members raised concerns about linking a larger share of state transportation funding to regional transit and the potential for trade-offs with other state transportation priorities, such as road and bridge maintenance. WMATA officials said the dedicated capital funding has helped but must grow to avoid future shortfalls; they noted the system remains heavily labor intensive and said the authority had identified $500 million in combined savings across capital and operating budgets.
No committee vote on HB 467 was recorded in the hearing transcript.
Ending: If enacted, HB 467 would rebase and index Maryland's dedicated capital share for Metro to better align with inflation and WMATA's operating formula; supporters said the change is intended to preserve safety, reliability and capital buying power.
