Reports today indicate that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has initially retained state funding for the long-planned for Purple Line in his first state budget. Based on those reports, Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director Stewart Schwartz applauded the decision in the following statement:
Category: News
Purple Line funding in Hogan’s budget, for now
Gov. Larry Hogan kept state funding for the Purple Line in a budget proposal he released Thursday, but said that could change.
According to reports, Hogan said he was still deciding whether to move forward with the 16-mile light rail and the related Red Line light rail project in Baltimore.
“We were pleased to see that both Purple Line and Red Line funding remaining in Governor Hogan’s first Maryland budget,” said Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director Stewart Schwartz in a statement. “The Purple Line is a good deal for Maryland, good for jobs, good for the economy and good for commuters.”
It was the Coalition for Smarter Growth that, on the day after the election, tried to calm fears Hogan would halt the estimated $2.45 billion project.
During the campaign, the Republican from Anne Arundel County said he favored building highways over transit and that he was skeptical the Purple Line’s cost would be worth it. Later he said he would still consider both projects.
The state could need to provide between $350 million to $750 million for the Purple Line, which would run from New Carrollton to Bethesda and could start construction late this year. The federal government, local governments and a yet-to-be-picked private concessionaire would provide another $1.7 to $2.1 billion to get the project off the ground.
The news wasn’t as good for the geographic cost of education index, or GCEI, which provides more school funding for Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Baltimore, where the cost of living, transportation and other services are higher.
Hogan proposed cutting the GCEI by 50 percent, something Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett said could mean a $17 million reduction in school funding to the county.
During a Thursday press conference on a new human trafficking bill, Leggett said he was watching Hogan’s first budget proposal closely and that so far it “certainly indicates a very strong hit to Montgomery County.”
Hogan is trying to bridge an estimated $750 million state budget shortfall. The proposal on Thursday didn’t include all the specifics, but did include a 2 percent cut to every state agency’s budget.
There would be a 1.3 percent increase in spending for higher education and a record high of $6.1 billion on Kindergarten-Grade 12 spending. Hogan’s proposal also includes $290 million for school construction.
Leggett said he was happy to see funding for the Purple Line and Red Line “at least thus far has not been changed.”
Read the original article here.
STATEMENT: Praise to Governor Hogan for keeping jobs-creating Purple Line on track
MARYLAND — Reports today indicate that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has initially retained state funding for the long-planned for Purple Line in his first state budget. Based on those reports, Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director Stewart Schwartz applauded the decision in the following statement: “We were pleased to see that both Purple Line and Red Line funding remaining in Governor Hogan’s first Maryland budget. The Purple Line is a good deal for Maryland, good for jobs, good for the economy and good for commuters.
Hogan Praised for Retaining Purple Line Funding
Coalition for Smarter Growth praises funding for the commuter line in Montgomery and PG counties; the Town of Chevy Chase has questions.
I-66 to gain toll lanes inside, outside the Beltway
He says it’ll induce more drivers to commute long-distance alone. He also says VDOT has made promises about providing robust bus service on the 495 and 95 express lanes but neither have come to fruition. “If they consider rapid bus service as a top justification for the project, then we expect guarantees that VDOT will fund rapid bus service in the corridor. They’ve failed to do it on the 495 and 95 Express Lane deals,” says Schwartz.
State Congressional leaders make their pitch to Hogan on Purple Line
Add most of Maryland’s congressional delegation to the chorus urging Governor-elect Larry Hogan not to cancel or delay construction of the Purple Line. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, along with House Representatives Elijah Cummings, Steny Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, Donna Edwards, John Sarbanes, John Delaney and Chris Van Hollen, penned a letter to Hogan on Thursday reminding the Republican that they’ve “fought hard to ensure that federal funds are available” to build both the Purple Line and Red Line.
Housing advocates call for changes to struggling Inclusionary Zoning Program
Under the IZ program, developers of new buildings containing at least 10 units must set aside between 8 and 10 percent of those units for people making under certain income thresholds. The trouble is that for most of those IZ units, the threshold is 80 percent of area median income, a measure that includes the wealthy suburbs.
Advocates call on Bowser, Zoning Commission to strengthen affordable housing policies
The letter cites a recent report from the Urban Institute that analyzed and did a comprehensive review of D.C.’s IZ policy, outlining the ways in which it can be improved. Among those recommendations includes ways to lower moderate-income limits for IZ units while increasing the production of low-income units, pricing affordable housing units based on 25 percent of the occupant’s income rather than 30 percent, and requiring low rise or rental buildings to set aside at least 12 percent of their units for affordable housing and ten percent of units for high rises.
Toll lanes lead way to major expansion of highway capacity in Virginia and Maryland
“Proponents of HOT lanes have always made ‘bus rapid transit,’ ‘express bus’ or ‘rapid bus’ a prime selling point for the HOT lanes, along with citing the extension of routes for carpooling. Yet the funding for expanded transit hasn’t followed,” Schwartz said.
RELEASE: DC housing advocates call on Mayor Bowser to start tenure with important move to increase affordable housing
EMBARGOED until 9:00AM
January 7, 2015
Contact: Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter Growth
O 202-676-0016 x 122
M 202-251-7516
E Cheryl@smartergrowth.net
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, DC housing advocates called on Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Zoning Commission to strengthen Inclusionary Zoning, an affordable housing program that requires lower priced units to be produced as a part of most new developments.
The groups released a letter (PDF) calling for lowering income targeting to better serve low and moderate income households who are priced out of DC’s ever more expensive housing market. The groups noted that a strong Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) program is an important part of a robust set of tools to address DC’s growing affordable housing crisis. Among the organizations calling for improving DC’s IZ program are: Coalition for Smarter Growth, Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Jews United for Justice, City First Homes, PolicyLink and Somerset Development.
“This policy has great potential to help address the needs of working people who are priced out of the District of Columbia. Now is the time to strengthen Inclusionary Zoning to ensure it is a more effective tool to make living in DC within reach for moderate and low income workers,” said Joslyn Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO.
After years of delay, the housing program is beginning to produce hundreds of units. Given that DC is even less affordable than it was when the policy was established in 2006, the housing activists urged the Zoning Commission to revise the policy to ensure that it is meeting the city’s growing need for more affordable housing.
For more than a year, the Zoning Commission and the Mayor Gray administration had expressed their intent to revise the policy, but have delayed any action. The groups urged the city to act now, citing the recent report by the Urban Institute reviewing the DC IZ program performance to date, and its recommendations for improvements.
“DC’s Inclusionary Zoning affordable housing program is fundamentally sound but needs to be strengthened. Most importantly, we need to create more homes at lower income levels through this policy to better meet the needs of city residents facing the greatest housing challenges,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, and a founding member of the Campaign for Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, the group that won the original policy in 2006.
In a letter submitted to the Zoning Commission and Mayor Bowser, the advocates asked that the Zoning Commission act to strengthen the Inclusionary Zoning program to ensure it can best achieve its goal to create a mix of low and moderate income affordable housing throughout the District. Citing a continued strong housing market, rising prices, and stagnant and falling incomes, the group asked for several changes to the current policy. These proposed changes include: lowering the income limits for moderate income IZ units, increasing the share of low income units produced, increasing the total percentage of IZ units required, and ensuring bonus density is available to provide compensation for the cost of the affordable units.
“DC’s Inclusionary Zoning program is on the right track, but needs to be improved to ensure we are reaching those who most need the help,” said Jacob Feinspan, Executive Director, Jews United for Justice.
The letter submitted to the DC Zoning Commission and Mayor Bowser, was signed by:
Cheryl Cort, Coalition for Smarter Growth
Joslyn N. Williams, President, Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO
Ed Lazere, DC Fiscal Policy Institute
Jacob Feinspan, Jews United for Justice
Angie Rodgers, People’s Consulting
Jim Steck, City First Homes
Jim Campbell, Somerset Development
Tad Baldwin, retired housing developer
Kalima Rose, PolicyLink
About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington DC region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Its mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish. Learn more at smartergrowth.net.
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