Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB467 Latest Draft

Bill / Engrossed Version Filed 03/17/2025

                             
 
EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW. 
        [Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law. 
         Underlining indicates amendments to bill. 
         Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by 
amendment. 
          *hb0467*  
  
HOUSE BILL 467 
R2, B1   	5lr1734 
    	CF SB 384 
By: Delegates Korman, J. Lewis, Palakovich Carr, and Williams 
Introduced and read first time: January 20, 2025 
Assigned to: Appropriations 
Committee Report: Favorable 
House action: Adopted 
Read second time: March 8, 2025 
 
CHAPTER ______ 
 
AN ACT concerning 1 
 
Metro Funding Modification Act of 2025 2 
 
FOR the purpose of altering the calculation of the amount that the Governor is required to 3 
include in the annual State budget each year to provide grants to the Washington 4 
Suburban Transit District to pay the capital costs of the Washington Metropolitan 5 
Area Transit Authority; making this Act contingent on enactment of certain 6 
legislation by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia; and 7 
generally relating to funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 8 
Authority.  9 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 10 
 Article – Transportation 11 
Section 10–205(f) and (g) 12 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 13 
 (2020 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 14 
 
 SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 15 
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 16 
 
Article – Transportation 17 
 
10–205. 18 
 
 (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Governor 19 
shall include an appropriation in the annual budget of at least the amount specified in 20  2 	HOUSE BILL 467  
 
 
paragraph (4) of this subsection for the sole purpose of providing grants to the Washington 1 
Suburban Transit District to pay the capital costs of the Washington Metropolitan Area 2 
Transit Authority. 3 
 
 (2) (i) The Governor is not required to make the appropriation under 4 
paragraph (1) of this subsection in a fiscal year unless the Department certifies to the 5 
Governor in writing before the beginning of the immediately preceding fiscal year that the 6 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has submitted to the Department: 7 
 
 1. Performance and condition assessments and reports 8 
regarding: 9 
 
 A. The safety and reliability of rapid heavy rail and bus 10 
systems; 11 
 
 B. The financial performance of the Washington 12 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority as it relates to rail and bus operations, including fare 13 
box recovery, service per rider, and cost per service hour; 14 
 
 C. The monthly ridership of rail and bus systems broken 15 
down by Metrorail station, Metrorail line, bus route, and bus line; 16 
 
 D. Strategies to reduce costs and improve the Washington 17 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s operational efficiency; and 18 
 
 E. The comparison of annual capital investments and 19 
approved budgets; and 20 
 
 2. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s: 21 
 
 A. Annual budget; 22 
 
 B. Annual independent financial audit; 23 
 
 C. Annual National Transit Database profile; and 24 
 
 D. Single audit reports issued in accordance with the 25 
Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for 26 
Federal Awards under 2 C.F.R. Part 200. 27 
 
 (ii) If the Commonwealth of Virginia or the District of Columbia 28 
reduce the amount of dedicated capital funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area 29 
Transit Authority, the Governor may reduce the appropriation under paragraph (1) of this 30 
subsection by a proportional amount. 31 
 
 (iii) 1. The Governor shall withhold 35% of the appropriation 32 
under paragraph (1) of this subsection if: 33   	HOUSE BILL 467 	3 
 
 
 
 A. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has 1 
received a modified audit opinion as a result of an annual independent audit conducted in 2 
accordance with Article XVI, Section 70 of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 3 
Authority Compact under § 10–204 of this subtitle; and 4 
 
 B. The Department has not certified to the Governor in 5 
writing before the beginning of the immediately preceding fiscal year that the Washington 6 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has submitted in writing to the board of directors of 7 
the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Maryland General Assembly 8 
a satisfactory corrective plan that addresses the reasons for the modified audit opinion. 9 
 
 2. The Governor shall release the portion of the 10 
appropriation withheld under subsubparagraph 1 of this subparagraph if the Washington 11 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority submits in writing to the board of directors of the 12 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the 13 
State Government Article, the Maryland General Assembly a satisfactory corrective action 14 
plan that addresses the reasons for the modified audit opinion. 15 
 
 (3) The Governor shall make the appropriation under paragraph (1) of this 16 
subsection from the Transportation Trust Fund. 17 
 
 (4) [(i)] For the first fiscal year in which the mandated appropriation 18 
under this subsection applies, the appropriation under paragraph (1) of this subsection 19 
shall equal at least the amount appropriated in the fiscal year 2019 State budget as enacted 20 
for the Washington Suburban Transit District to pay the capital costs of the Washington 21 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 22 
 
 [(ii) For each fiscal year after the first fiscal year in which the 23 
mandated appropriation under this subsection applies, the appropriation under paragraph 24 
(1) of this subsection shall be equal to the amount of the appropriation for the preceding 25 
fiscal year increased by 3%.] 26 
 
 (g) (1) [The] SUBJECT TO PARAGRAPHS (4) AND (5) OF THIS SUBSECTION , 27 
FOR EACH FISCAL YEAR , FROM THE REVENUES AV AILABLE FOR THE STATE CAPITAL 28 
PROGRAM IN THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND, THE Governor shall include in the 29 
State budget an appropriation for the purposes specified under paragraph (2) of this 30 
subsection [of $167,000,000 from the revenues available for the State capital program in 31 
the Transportation Trust Fund] IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL T O THE STATE’S 32 
PROPORTIONATE SHARE OF $500,000,000 CALCULATED USING THE METRORAIL 33 
OPERATING SUBSIDY ALLOCATION FORMULA ADJUSTED AS REQUIRED UNDER 34 
PARAGRAPHS (4) AND (5) OF THIS SUBSECTION . 35 
 
 (2) The Department shall provide an annual grant of at least 36 
[$167,000,000] THE AMOUNT THAT THE GOVERNOR IS REQUIRED TO INCLUDE IN THE 37 
STATE BUDGET UNDER PA RAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION to the Washington 38  4 	HOUSE BILL 467  
 
 
Suburban Transit District to be used only to pay the capital costs of the Washington 1 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2 
 
 (3) The grant required under paragraph (2) of this subsection is in addition 3 
to the appropriation required under subsection (f)(1) of this section. 4 
 
 (4) THE BASE AMOUNT OF $500,000,000 USED TO CALCULATE TH E 5 
APPROPRIATION REQUIRED UNDER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION IS EQUAL 6 
TO AN AMOUNT ADJUSTE D FOR INFLATION, AS MEASURED BY THE CONSUMER PRICE 7 
INDEX (ALL URBAN CONSUMERS), BEGINNING WITH FISCA L YEAR 2019 AND 8 
ENDING WITH THE FISC AL YEAR THAT SECTION 1 OF CHAPTER ___ (H.B. 467) OF 9 
THE ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 2025 TAKES EFFECT. 10 
 
 (5) FOR EACH FISCAL YEAR , THE $500,000,000 BASE AMOUNT USED 11 
TO CALCULATE THE APP ROPRIATION REQUIRED UNDER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS 12 
SUBSECTION, AS ADJUSTED FOR INFL ATION UNDER PARAGRAP H (4) OF THIS 13 
SUBSECTION, SHALL BE INCREASED BY 3%. 14 
 
 SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That: 15 
 
 (a) Section 1 of this Act is contingent on: 16 
 
 (1) the Commonwealth of Virginia enacting legislation that provides 17 
dedicated capital funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority that 18 
includes: 19 
 
 (i) 1. a calculation of each jurisdiction’s proportionate share of a 20 
base amount of capital funding calculated using the Metrorail Operating Subsidy 21 
Allocation Formula; and 22 
 
 2. a base amount of capital funding equal to $500,000,000 23 
adjusted for inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers), 24 
beginning with fiscal year 2019 and ending the fiscal year that the legislation is enacted; 25 
and 26 
 
 (ii) an annual 3% increase to the base amount of capital funding; and 27 
 
 (2) the District of Columbia enacting legislation that provides dedicated 28 
capital funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority that includes: 29 
 
 (i) 1. a calculation of each jurisdiction’s proportionate share of a 30 
base amount of capital funding calculated using the Metrorail Operating Subsidy 31 
Allocation Formula; and 32 
 
 2. a base amount of capital funding equal to $500,000,000 33 
adjusted for inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers), 34   	HOUSE BILL 467 	5 
 
 
beginning with fiscal year 2019 and ending the fiscal year that the legislation is enacted; 1 
and 2 
 
 (ii) an annual 3% increase to the base amount of capital funding. 3 
 
 (b) The Department of Transportation shall notify the Department of Legislative 4 
Services in writing within 5 days after both the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District 5 
of Columbia have enacted legislation that meets the requirements of subsection (a) of this 6 
section. 7 
 
 (c) Section 1 of this Act shall take effect on the date that the Department of 8 
Legislative Services receives notice under subsection (b) of this section. 9 
 
 SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That , subject to Section 2 of this 10 
Act, this Act shall take effect June 1, 2025. 11 
 
 
 
Approved: 
________________________________________________________________________________  
 Governor. 
________________________________________________________________________________  
  Speaker of the House of Delegates. 
________________________________________________________________________________  
         President of the Senate.