Transportation and Environment subcommittee adopts budget recommendations, adds reporting requirements and trims select new positions

The Transportation and Environment Subcommittee voted to adopt its budget decision document after reviewing the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) recommendations and an additional packet of supplemental items.

The vote approved a set of budget adjustments that included requests for regular reports from agencies, deletion of several proposed new positions, conditional restrictions on certain appropriations and a $50,000,000 supplemental appropriation for local clean-energy projects made contingent on authorizing legislation.

The committee’s packet, reviewed page-by-page by staff, recommended narratives that would require agencies to provide monthly or periodic reports on selected programs and projects. Examples include monthly data on residential utility terminations for the Public Service Commission; contingency plans and reports from the Maryland Energy Administration on federal funding assumptions and strategic energy investment fund resources; quarterly reporting on the Howard Street tunnel rehabilitation at the Port; and bimonthly status reports on the Purple Line from the Maryland Transit Administration. Several supplemental-packet items also sought to restrict funds pending additional reports or statutory changes.

DLS recommended deleting numerous proposed new positions across agencies. Notable personnel recommendations included deleting two new positions added in a supplemental budget for the Public Service Commission; deleting two new positions and associated funding in the Department of Planning’s supplemental request; deleting eight new positions in the State Highway Administration; and a supplemental recommendation to delete 76 newly proposed MTA police positions. Agencies sometimes disagreed with deletion recommendations; where the agencies objected, the committee either left the positions in place or negotiated modifications in several cases.

The committee also placed conditions on specific appropriations. The supplemental packet contains language making a $50,000,000 appropriation for local government clean-energy projects contingent on legislation expanding the permissible uses of the source funds. The Port Administration funding discussion included a DLS action to withhold $200,000 pending a report on rehabilitation of the North Locust Point Terminal and its impact on regional road salt distribution operations. The Department of Natural Resources funding packet included a DLS recommendation to restrict $1,000,000 of the State Lakes Protection and Restoration Fund for a Deep Creek Lake pilot program.

Policy and program oversight requests adopted or recommended by the subcommittee included reports on: the Maryland Energy Administration’s contingency plans if federal funds are unavailable; MEA spending and fund balances; tracking of federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act funding for energy purposes; an insurance tracking-system project status report for the Maryland Insurance Administration; a report on the State Highway Administration’s vehicle-rental activities; a report on the feasibility of capturing only rear license-plate images at toll facilities; and a recovery-metrics update for port operations after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Additional language requested reporting on the new motor vehicle insurance coverage verification system and on electric-vehicle adoption and its expected impact on the vehicle emissions inspections program.

Committee discussion also addressed agricultural and environmental program funding. DLS recommended reducing a $900,000 appropriation for the Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming program by $400,000 (bringing the program to $500,000); the committee additionally tied continued funding to passage of enabling legislation in one modification. DLS also recommended deleting $2,000,000 in federal funds for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that, according to DLS, was not awarded.

At the conclusion of the session, Chair Austin thanked committee members and staff, and emphasized the committee’s intent to preserve critical environmental programs while adding accountability language and tracking on major transportation projects. "We appreciate the governor's budget particularly on transportation as he did provide additional revenues this year which is going to enable a lot of highway projects and transit projects to move forward all over the state and what we tried to do in our budget language was bring in some more accountability where we felt it was needed for certain agencies," Chair Austin said.

The committee adopted the decision document by voice vote; no recorded roll-call tally was provided in the transcript.