Economic Recovery Now in Hands of State and Regional Officials: Transparent Public Process Needed Along with Focus on Maintenance, Transit, and Local Projects
Coalition for Smarter Growth and 1000 Friends of Maryland
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
February 18, 2009
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, CSG, 703-599-6437 (cell)
Dru Schmidt-Perkins, 1000 Friends, (410) 410-385-2910 or (410) 258-8601 (cell)
Economic Recovery Now in Hands of State and Regional Officials
Transparent Public Process Needed Along with Focus on Maintenance, Transit, and Local Projects
DC, VA, MD: Following yesterday’s signing by President Obama of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, 1000 Friends of Maryland and other partner groups called on state and local officials to ensure that the transportation portion revitalizes the economy, focusing on job creation by first maintaining and repairing our existing infrastructure including the 8-9% of structurally deficient bridges in Virginia, DC and Maryland, and investing in much needed public transit.
During last Wednesday’s town hall meeting in Ft. Myers, FL President Obama took an unequivocal stand in favor of a 21st Century transportation system including “energy efficient” investments such as “high speed rail” and “public transit.” Said President Obama: “Even when you’re in the middle of crisis, you’ve got to keep your eye on the future…The days where we’re just building sprawl forever, those days are over.”
“This is a one-time slug of money, and with all of the debt already created by the government, future infrastructure funding will be very limited,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “We have to fix what we’ve already built, invest in infrastructure where people already live instead of fueling more speculative sprawl, and carefully reevaluate our entire transportation program.”
“We’re calling on Governor O’Malley, Governor Kaine, Mayor Fenty, our state DOT’s, and our Metropolitan Planning Organization leaders to heed President Obama’s vision for change and urging them to spend these investments wisely,” said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Maryland. “We need to invest in our existing communities, using the funds to revitalize our cities, older suburbs and towns, and to ensure we are buying a transportation program that supports smart growth, reduces energy consumption and fights climate change.”
The Coalition testified today before the Metropolitan Washington Transportation Planning Board calling for an open, transparent and deliberative process. “We are counting on our local elected officials working through their regional planning bodies to involve the public and lead a careful evaluation of priorities, rather than allowing the Departments of Transportation total discretion to pick the projects,” said Schwartz.
Twenty regional groups signed-on to a letter to the regional Congressional delegation
during the height of the stimulus debate setting forth principles for the spending.
The stimulus bill includes about $46 billion for transportation. Our states will receive the funds through programs that allow states broad discretion. “At this point, it is up to us to use this money for carefully selected priorities,” noted Perkins. Some of the helpful features of the legislation are listed below.
- $27.5 billion is allocated to the Surface Transportation Program (STP) that, as its name states, can be spent on a range of surface transportation needs, not just highways. These funds could begin to restore our transportation networks to a state of good repair if state and local officials give priority to fix-it-first rather than unneeded new highways that encourage more congestion and oil dependence.
- Flexibility built into STP funds allows Virginia, Maryland and DC to invest in transit, road, rail, and bicycle and pedestrian projects that reduce oil dependence, traffic congestion, and vulnerability to gas price hikes.
- Just under 30% of STP funds will be directed (“suballocated”) to metropolitan decision makers, who will have the flexibility to use the money to meet the diverse transportation needs of their constituents while helping to foster the clean energy economy envisioned by the President.
- A substantial percentage of funding is explicitly dedicated to public transportation, to help meet growing demand.
| Surface Transportation Program | Transit Programs | |
| District of Columbia | $123,507,842 | $124,914,899 |
| Maryland | $431,034,777 | $179,262,087 |
| Virginia | $694,460,823 | $116,105,505 |
(State shares of intercity and high speed rail funding in the new law have yet to be determined.)
Congress provided no criteria to ensure that STP funds are prioritized towards fixing crumbling infrastructure or other goals like job creation, energy efficiency etc. As a result, decisions about the kinds of jobs to create and projects to fund with federal stimulus funds are in the hands of state and local officials. “We urge our officials to use this flexibility to create the jobs that will both repair the system we have, and build a transportation system that meets the needs of an energy-efficient 21st Century economy,” concluded Schwartz.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth’s mission is to ensure that transportation and development decisions accommodate growth while revitalizing communities, providing more housing and travel choices, and conserving our natural and historic areas. The Coalition works in the Washington DC metropolitan region and across significant parts of Virginia.
1000 Friends of Maryland works to protect our natural areas, restore vibrant towns and cities and improve public transportation through research, education and advocacy. 1000 Friends is a statewide group.
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