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.