From State Sen. Robert Cassilly:
The “Road Kill Bill” that Governor Hogan wants to eliminate is confusing. It was designed that way by the same Washington, D.C. metro legislators in Annapolis who previously voted to eliminate the smaller counties’ annual share of the gas tax revenue ($20million/year for Harford alone) so those funds would be redirected to projects in the D.C. region. The bill, now a law, is really a raw political power grab masquerading as science and it essentially works like this:
All transportation projects over $5 million that are located in any of the four largest counties are put into a pot for State funding. Any of the other 20 counties can then try to bump one of those projects from the pot and replace it with their own project by playing the three step bump game.
In step one of the game, the bumping county spends lots of money to employ outside consultants to conduct 23 studies required by the law for each project. Each of those studies produces a numerical raw score. That raw score is then multiplied by the percentage that county represents of the statewide population. The final scores of the bumping projects are then compared to the scores of the projects already in the pot to see which projects score higher. Because the final scores are so heavily weighted in favor of large population centers and mass transit, the bumping counties’ projects will inevitably score lower and no bump will occur as a result of step one. Apparently, the primary purpose of this step is to add an atmosphere of scientific legitimacy to a political power grab. The expensive studies also serve as a strong financial deterrent to the smaller counties who might consider challenging the pot.
In step two, the law allows the Governor to make his own substitution for projects in the pot if he can provide what the law calls a “rational basis” for a substitution. No one yet knows what constitutes a “rational basis” for a substitution, but it is debatable that a “political basis,” such as simple fairness to the other 20 counties, will serve as a “rational basis” as envisioned by sponsors in the General Assembly.
In step three, the game enters the realm of the unknown. It would appear that in this step any of the four large counties whose projects are bumped from the pot can file a lawsuit, or threaten such a suit, claiming that the Governor’s stated reason for the bump was not a proper “rational basis.” The Governor can then either cave into the large county or he can stand his ground, in which case the matter goes to court and the judicial branch of government becomes a de facto legislature as the ultimate decision maker in a substantially less fair, considerably more complex, far more cumbersome, and noticeably less transparent budgetary process.
The long established process by which road projects have been determined has served our State well for many years. In that process, local jurisdictions provided their input and the Governor, who is elected by all of the citizens, determined priorities based upon local input and the need to build effective, statewide transportation networks. The Governor then submitted a proposed budget to the General Assembly for funding. There were no complaints about that process until Governor Hogan was elected and began pushing for a more equitable distribution of projects, statewide. That angered the counties along the D.C. beltway who were incensed by Gov. Hogan’s refusal to bow to their demands to dedicate gas tax revenue to projects around Washington, D.C.
Our citizens deserve a fair road construction process. The Road Kill law needs to be repealed.
Senator Bob Cassilly
Bob, was your commentary written by the governor’s press secretary? All this whining about “the road kill bill” as you call it. Just a simple scoring system to weigh the priorities of various projects, non-binding. Your legislative initiative will be defeated by the Democrats and you know it. The Baltimore Metropolitan Council which the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board’s Public Advisory Committee serves (and which I am a member of) has had Barry Glassman as its chair and I can assure you that we spend time looking at plenty of projects in Harford County. When as much money is spent on road projects as is, you should be grateful there is a vetting process that helps to sort out the competing priorities.
Next, you are complaining that the “big” counties and “mass transit!” are forcing the little counties out of the picture.. Is that what happened when Hogan spent the money designated for the Red Line on outlying road projects? Hardly. Okay, so legislators like you who voted against the gasoline tax got to
use those monies for your projects in the far suburbs. Actually when you create more good roads in
the far suburbs like Route 24 it only invites more development and adds to the congestion..As for “mass transit” (your bogeyman), its improvement decreases needs in the outer suburbs because fewer people need to use cars, but I don’t expect you to understand this. Governor Hogan threw a wrench into the works and has delayed the Red Line and other improvements, but the need for comprehensive projects in the region will only increase to the point where an overhaul in transportation funding in the region will be unavoidable.
Politics work great if you are a democrat with control of the gavel and the old political machine. Too bad they haven’t noticed the State of Maryland is larger than four counties and Baltimore City; but then again…all those other counties do not support the democratic agenda, so the little counties got slammed. If those democrats in control of the gavel were fair minded, they would reconsider this bill and find a bipartisan approach to help the infrastructure of this State. The democrats of this State only need to look at this most recent Presidential election to learn a few things.
@Hunter: A man expresses his view and that’s the best you can do? Back to the defensive position of us and them. Do you actually have any thoughts of your own on this of are you just here to point fingers and lay blame?
The view expressed above seemed to have a political note of its own, so turn about is fair play. This is obviously a difficult problem because infrastructure or lack there of effects everyone. The current formulation seems a bit burdensome with all the red tape is meant to guide projects in a direction to benefit the big four. An impact statement from each county would have greater use and with some formula to ensure a percentage given to the state by each county would be returned to the county (and Baltimore City of course). This formula should include the prospect of very large expenditures that go above the percentage formula for one year would be carried over to multiple years. This impact of multiple years should guide the counties to be very selective of large projects since their county would not be entitled to other projects for sometime. Then of course, there is the overall impact of the great State of Maryland that Annapolis has swayed to the big four that needs to be adjusted by a traffic impact study over several years.
Now that the gloves are off!, no more redneck monopoly…, contract kickback and selling out is over have a great Dr. King day!
All this is fine and dandy, but has anyone actually looked at the all the legislation introduced by Senator Cassilly? MOST of the legislation he introduces seems to be actually on behalf of another elected official from your county. That other elected official just happens to be an immediate family member. That immediate family member just happens to be a State’s Attorney. With all the issues in Harford County regarding Senator Cassilly’s constituents, it seems the actual purpose of his proposed legislation and co-sponsored legislation is to advance this other elected official’s agenda. The appearance of Senator Cassilly lending his office to another family member is indeed apparent. Hey Bob, why don’t you actually start working for the people who elected you and stop working for your brother…..https://trackbill.com/legislator/md-robert-cassilly/433-13299/
@Soulcrusher, this is one of your posts that I actually agree with. Well-said.
Which of the Cas..silly boys is Moe! You know as in the 3 stooges…. Just wondering….