Wrap-Up of the 2020 Maryland General Assembly
The General Assembly adjourned sine die on Wednesday, March 18, almost three weeks early, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. None of the bills supported by Dontwiden270.org received final approval from both houses of the Maryland General Assembly.
The Chairman of the the House Environment and Transportation Committee, Delegate Kumar Barve, adamantly opposed our top legislative priority, the “County Consent bill” (HB292), and his delay in moving the other bills we supported through his Committee virtually guaranteed they would fail to secure Senate approval before adjournment. This action alone—behind closed doors—helped the Governor’s massive luxury toll highway plans continue advancing.
Ending the 2020 session sine die means that all pending legislation that was not passed before Wednesday has expired. Lawmakers will return to Annapolis the last week of May for a short special session limited as of now to emergency legislation and action that may be required to manage the coronavirus pandemic.
Any legislation considered during the special session in May or the next regular session in January will have to begin the legislative process from scratch. Any bill that was not passed by both the House and the Senate in identical form before adjournment on March 18 would not become law.
What does this mean for us? All the bills we’ve been working on would need to be re-introduced and reconsidered when the legislature reconvenes, which is very unlikely to happen in May. It is possible that some of the bills we supported this year will be reintroduced during the next regular session of the General Assembly that begins in January, 2021.
Status of Transportation Bills
HB292, the bill favored by Dontwiden270.org was the bill with the greatest potential to stop the toll-lane P3 program. The bill was voted down in the House Environment and Transportation Committee because the Committee Chair, Delegate Kumar Barve opposed it.
Three bills, HB1220, HB1249, and HB1424, eventually received a favorable vote in the House Environment and Transportation Committee. However, because Committee Chair Barve held onto the bills until the last minute (as he did last year with a similar bill), when they did pass in the House, there was no time to generate support for them in the Senate, particularly in this short session.
Information about these four bills follows. Please also refer to the Dontwiden270.org website blog post of March 8, 2020 with additional information about the bills (scroll down to the section titled “Status of Key Transportation Legislation in the Maryland General Assembly”).
And click on the CABE Connection for additional information.
HB292/SB229 (Mary Lehman/Susan Lee – Extension of County Government Consent Requirement)
This bill would have extended to all Maryland counties a 1978 law that requires the State to obtain the consent of a majority of the affected Eastern Shore counties before constructing any new toll road, highway, or bridge project.
HB292 would have required the State to consult and collaborate with the counties on major new toll projects, restoring a 50-year tradition of engagement with the counties on major transportation projects. This would likely shift the State’s focus toward a more balanced multimodal strategy with a heavier emphasis on transit, instead of a default setting that favors highway construction.
A hearing was held February 13 in the House Environment and Transportation Committee. The March 16 vote on HB292, taken after Committee Chair Kumar Barve pressured his members to oppose the bill, was unfavorable, 5 voting in favor and 16 against.
A hearing was held on the Senate version of the bill in the Finance Committee on January 29, but the bill never brought to a vote in the Committee.
HB1220 (Kumar Barve – P3 Toll Rates)
HB1220 would have prevented an increase in toll rate hikes for a P3 project involving roads, highways, or bridges unless approves by the Board of Public Works (BPW).
A hearing was held in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on March 5, and the bill received a favorable vote of the Committee on March 13.
The House Appropriations Committee gave the bill a favorable vote on March 14.
The bill passed the full House on a vote of 96-33 on March 17.
The bill was referred to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee on March 17 but died there because no hearing was held or vote taken by the Senate before the General Assembly adjourned Sine Die.
HB1249 (Marc Korman - MDOT Promises Act of 2020)
HB1249 codified certain promises the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Hogan Administration have made to government agencies and the public in seeking approval for the I-495 & I-270 P3 from the BPW, including future local transit funding and the right of transit buses to use toll lanes free of charge. The bill was triggered by the broken promises made about the proposal and how often other P3 tollways fall short of their original projections and cause taxpayer subsidies and bailouts.
A hearing was held in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on March 5 and received a favorable vote on March 13. It passed with amendments that weakened the bill, including an amendment that the toll revenues for transit would only be 10% after construction costs had been paid off.
The bill was approved in the House Appropriations Committee on March 14, with amendments.
The bill passed the full House by a vote of 97-36 on March 17, 2020.
There was no action taken by the Senate on the bill.
HB1424 (Jared Solomon – Public-Private Partnerships - Process and Oversight):
HB1424 would have strengthened oversight and transparency of future high-cost P3 projects. The bill also established a P3 Oversight Review Board to review pre-solicitation reports for transportation projects over $500 million and provide a report to the BPW and the House and Senate Budget Committees. In addition, it gave the General Assembly up to a year to review and nullify previously approved P3 designations.
A hearing was held in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on March 5 and the bill received a favorable vote on March 13.
The bill received a favorable vote on March 14 in the House Appropriations Committee with amendments.
The bill was passed by the full House on March 17, by a vote of 97-37.
There was no Senate action taken on the bill.
What Next?
Dontwiden270.org and other grassroots organizations have helped lay the foundation for opposition to the 495-270 toll-lane P3 scheme, helped create the intellectual framework for systematically questioning its merits and identifying its fatal flaws and risks, and made clear the depth of public opposition. Public resistance is sure to grow with the news of water bill hikes. Legal snares for the project are looming in the environmental study process and work-arounds designed to evade inconvenient provisions of state law.
Meanwhile, the toll-lane P3 scheme is still alive. Governor Hogan will work hard to put as much of his plan in motion as possible. But in the current health and economic crisis, nothing about the future is certain. The world is about to enter a period of instability and uncertainty in the financial markets that is likely to make investors and lenders more risk-averse and leery of projects that also face sustained long-term political headwinds.
MDOT issued a Request for Quaifications (RFQ) for the first phase of the program, with responses due on April 22, 2020. A shortlist is expected by June. If the list of companies submitting an RFQ becomes available in April or May, it may show how many potential bidders are still interested in signing on.
As of a few weeks ago, MDOT was planning to issue a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on May 1 and hold public hearings in June. We don't know to what extent this schedule will slip as a result of the pandemic. The DEIS is important for several reasons: It will provide us with new information about MDOT's plans and offer opportunities to educate the public. And it is a key step in the legally required environmental study process, when we can point out defects, which if not subsequently fixed, can trigger lawsuits against the project.
Dontwiden270.org will continue to keep you informed about important issues. When there is news and/or a need for all of us to take action, you will definitely hear from us. Thank you for all you have done already; it HAS made a difference.
Please continue to spread the word that Governor Hogan‘s plan will NOT bring traffic relief. We must keep up the pressure to stop this fatally flawed scheme to privatize and widen our interstate highways and monetize congestion. It will not deliver the traffic relief its promoters promise, and the financial risks to the public and the State are too great.
Get your friends and neighbors to join our e-mail list
This is a great way for them to stay current on what’s happening with the highway project and to learn how they can help fight this boondoggle. Go to https://dontwiden270.org/get-involved to sign up. And check out our website dontwiden270.org for more information. We even have a Spanish language section with translations of key documents.
Have a question or comment? Want a speaker for your community?
Email us at contactdontwiden270@gmail.com .
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