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Bus Rapid Transit Approved!

November 28, 2013 by

November 2013
 
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 Minimum Wage Increase & Rapid Transit Plan Approved!
 
 

 

A Great Day for Montgomery County: Rapid Transit & Raising the Minimum Wage 
 

 
We have a lot to be thankful for today, on the eve of Thanksgiving. We have taken a significant leap forward in the battle to ensure that all of our friends and neighbors in Montgomery County can share in the economic prosperity that many of us take for granted by passing a significantincrease in the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by 2017. And we unanimously passed theCountywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan, adding 82 miles of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes to relieve congestion and decrease carbon emissions.
 
I am proud to be a part of a County which is so clearly leading the nation on economic justice and transit planning. Please take a moment to read more below about the specifics of these actions.
 
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

 
 
Marc Elrich
Councilmember At-large

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Minimum Wage Increase Passes
 
When I proposed minimum wage legislation in August of this year, I wanted to do something that would make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering in our region. I wanted to close the increasing gap in real wages that plagues our country right now. Although I wish we passed a true living wage yesterday, I recognized when I proposed this legislation that we’re simply not there yet politically. But the increase we passed is meaningful and real.  Today, Prince George’s County under Council President Andrea Harrison’s leadership mirrors our legislation and next week DC, under Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmember Vincent Orange’s guidance, is ready to approve similar legislation.
 
I am proud of this regional approach we have embraced with our neighbors in Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia. I applaud their courage and commitment to raising wages for our most vulnerable residents now. They have not waited for leadership, but demonstrated it by leading the region, state and country.
 
The final bill we passed yesterday isn’t perfect, but it is significant and important. Our residents will see a real and substantial increase in the money they earn for their hard day’s labor. That money is most likely to be spent locally, on rent, at grocery stores, restaurants and small businesses. 
 
The bill will increase the minimum wage for most workers from its current, untenable level of $7.25 an hour to $8.45 in 2014; $9.55 in 2015; $10.75 in 2016; and $11.50 in 02017. My original bill would have gotten us there a year earlier, in 2016, but this is a compromise we can accept. Sadly, I could not convince enough of my colleagues to include indexing the wage to inflation, which was an important element of my original bill. The reason we find ourselves in this situation now is because state and federal authorities didn’t index the minimum wage to inflation, effectively leaving the minimum wage stagnant while higher paid workers received cost of living increases. If they had indexed it, the minimum wage would be $10.75 today. I urge the state to index their minimum wage to inflation when they address it this spring so that we don’t have to come back five years from now and address this again. 
 
We heard from many local restaurant owners in the past week about the provision added in committee last week to include tipped employees, which would have increased the hourly base wage they are paid, regardless of the fact that the majority of their employees earn above $11.50 already with tips. I proposed an amendment to address that, which passed on an 8-1 vote. It will keep the base tipped wage at its current state level, but require businesses to make up any difference if their workers don’t make enough in tips to meet our county’s new minimum wage. This ensures that we don’t leave those hardworking folks behind, but we also do not create an unnecessary burden on our local small businesses, either. 
 
At a time when Wall Street is setting new record highs and corporate profits are doing quite well, the challenges facing the poor—along with working and middle class families—are only growing larger. Persistent poverty is the reflection of the persistence of low wages in our economy.  We have tens of thousands of working people who, despite getting up and going to work every day, do not earn wages that are sufficient to lift them out of poverty. As a result, working people are forced, at best, to rely on the government to provide programs to support their housing, medical and food needs.  At worst, people simply do without adequate housing, health care and nutrition.  
 
 
Their employers have effectively shifted a portion of what should be their labor costs onto taxpayers—both individual taxpayers as well as the majority of private sector companies in our County who do pay a living wage or higher. Large corporations in particular have effectively off-loaded their costs onto taxpayers. We won’t pay companies for machinery maintenance, but they want us to pay for people maintenance.  In Maryland, 71% of the minimum wage jobs are with multi-million and multi-billion dollar corporations.
 
In our region, the impact of low wages is especially harsh. We have one of the highest cost of living levels in the country, with housing costs leading the way.  I’ve looked at housing prices and the cost of living in other parts of the state and it’s clear that there are regions in the state where a $10 minimum wage may give someone a reasonable chance of getting by economically. But it won’t get you there here. A self-sufficiency budget was developed for Montgomery County through the work of the Maryland Community Action Partnership.  It found that a single adult in Montgomery County would need a wage of $17.07 per hour to support herself; a family of four with two adults would require that each adult earn $19.62 an hour; and a single adult with one child would need to earn $30.59 per hour.  The cost of living in the D.C. Metro area is significantly higher than in most of the country—and it requires a wage level that is more closely attuned to our local conditions. 
 
With today’s vote, we have not only increased the amount of money in the pockets of local workers, but research shows increasing the minimum wage leads to less employment turnover. It means more stability in the lives of the families of those earning minimum wage. It means a decreased likelihood of losing your housing or being forced to move, which means less mobility in our schools. I can tell you as a former school teacher that is a good thing. When kids are constantly uprooted from one school and neighborhood to another because of their parents’ job instability, it hurts their chances of success in school and overtaxes the schools and teachers who try to engage them. So in addition to the clear benefits both to families and to local businesses of increasing low-wage workers’ income, a reduction in employment turnover may well translate into a more stability in our neighborhoods and schools, as well as decreased reliance on  taxpayer-funded social services, which is better for all of us in the long run.
 
There were those who encouraged us to be cautious and wait to see what would be done at the state or national level, but I firmly believe in the mantra ‘think globally, act locally.’ We have stricter air quality standards and higher fuel efficiency because California enacted those regulations first and then the rest of the nation followed. As Delegate Tom Hucker stated in a letter to me last week, ‘It is abundantly clear that passage of a higher minimum wage in Montgomery County (and Prince George’s County) will only increase the likelihood that the General Assembly will pass a statewide increase in the minimum wage, possibly significantly so.’ There are many people and organizations working hard to raise the wage at the state level, and I share Delegate Hucker’s view that our victory here, coupled with Prince George’s similar victory today, will help push the state to make that change. 
 
I am especially thankful today for my co-sponsors of this legislation, Council President Nancy Navarro and Councilmember Valerie Ervin, whose early and strong leadership made this possible. I am particularly grateful for the support of our community partners, who worked tirelessly to make this happen. Thanks in particular go to Jews United for Justice, NOW, Progressive Maryland, DC Labor Council AFL-CIO, UFCW Local 1994, Local 400, CASA, Progressive Neighbors, Montgomery County Young Dems and the Jewish Community Relations Council. You took time out of your days, your evenings and weekends, to lobby us, rally your friends and neighbors, and advocate with passion and compassion so we could do what is right for residents of our county. Thank you for helping make passage of this bill a reality.
 
This issue is about people, our neighbors who work hard every day to put food on the table and keep a roof over their families’ heads. We are not only morally obligated to care about the working poor in our community, but we have a vested economic interest in doing so. Poverty and injustice begets more of the same. I am proud of the work we have done here in Montgomery County and I applaud my colleagues for their engagement on this important issue. Our work is not done, but I hope this first step will give many something concrete to be thankful and hopeful for this holiday season.

 

 
 
 

 

 
Rapid Transit System Plan Approved
 

I am delighted to report that the Council voted 9 to 0 yesterday to approve theCountywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan, adding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes to the County’s official plans. This is the first official step taken by county government to prioritize transit as an essential piece of our planning future in the County.

 

More than seven years ago, after I heard a report by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) detailing the significant population increases predicted for our region, along with increasing pollution and traffic congestion, I knew we needed a solution. We needed a plan to move us away from ever-increasing traffic gridlock and worsening air quality, with the degradation of our quality of life that would invariably follow.

 

I asked my Chief of Staff, Dale Tibbitts, to map the routes that connected people from where they live to where they work. I knew that with all the existing congestion and all the planned and already approved development, we needed more and better transit to deal with traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions. Together, we put forward a map and a proposal for a bus rapid transit (BRT) system for Montgomery County.

 I wanted to use, to the maximum extent possible, the existing road right-of-way (ROW) so that we could work within the existing built conditions to be the least disruptive to existing residents and businesses and to reduce costs.

 

As we looked at the County’s traffic patterns, we found many places where a single, reversible lane would be sufficient and save capital costs.  There are benefits to such a design that acknowledges the physical limitations of space and the fiscal limits on funds.

 

There is no real way to move forward in this County without transit. But it must be transit that is rapid, reliable and frequent.  It cannot be transit that is mired in traffic, but it must be transit that is affordable. A BRT system, done correctly, can entice people to leave their cars at home and ride public transportation, reducing congestion and carbon emissions. For more detailed descriptions of what was proposed, please see the Council analyst's packet from Tuesday's meeting.

 

The routes approved yesterday will need further study, but at the end of the day, we have to act if we want to make progress. This Council and previous Councils have approved enormous growth in this County, often in spite of my efforts to balance that development with infrastructure enhancements and reasonable limits. Those plans will not be realized but for the addition of transit. It will be difficult to bring employment to the east side of the County without transit.  It will be impossible to realize the potential of Shady Grove Life Sciences without transit. And it will be impossible to realize Clarksburg’s full potential, which was predicated on a transit corridor going all the way to Clarksburg and beyond, without reliable transit.  Nor will we achieve our goals on Maryland Route 355 in the White Flint Corridor unless there is additional transit.

 

We need to do it right and that may take some time.  However, I am optimistic that if we are creative, work with partners, and focus on achieving what we need to achieve–and don’t gold plate what doesn’t need to be gold plated–we will be able to design something that can be put into service sooner rather than later.

 

If we do nothing, the gridlock on our roads and our quality of life will only get worse. Done correctly, we can design something that helps and does not harm our existing communities.  With careful planning, we can achieve the goal of moving people more efficiently in peak direction, which frankly is our headache.  As I have always said, we need to ensure that residents are part of the planning and implementation. We will have a better system when communities near the corridors help shape the outcome rather than have the outcome imposed on them. And at the same time, we will create a transit system that gives people a viable alternative to sitting in their cars in gridlock.

 

I’m grateful for all the work that everyone has done on this – both the committees that went before the Planning Board deliberations, the Planning Board, the County Executive and his staff, the T&E committee with Chairman Berliner’s excellent leadership, Council staff, and my own staff, particularly Dale Tibbitts, Debbie Spielberg and Justin Willits.  I appreciate my Council colleagues’ support for this initiative  This work is a real service to the County and when things start happening on the ground, people will see what the real benefits of this system are and what opportunities it opens for everyone.  A BRT system is important for the environment, for the economy and for the quality of life in Montgomery County.  I look forward to the next step in this process and I welcome your thoughts and comments as it proceeds.

 

 

Let me be your Advocate 
 
Often it may feel that our county government is a large, bureaucratic entity that makes decisions that impact our lives without residents’ involvement. But you are the government, and I am here to be your advocate. County government affects our lives in many ways, from the roads and buses we use each day to our children’s schools, our local parks, and our taxes. If you have an issue, concern or suggestion, please take a moment to let me know, and I will do my best to serve you. My staff and I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Dale Tibbitts is my Chief of Staff and handles the budget, rapid transit and environmental issues, as well as happenings Up-County; Tiffany Ward focuses on Health and Human Services and Education Committee issues, as well as Mid-County; Mara Parker follows the Public Safety Committee and the East County and also handles my schedule; Debbie Spielberg focuses on transportation, environmental issues and landlord/tenant issues, Silver Spring and Western Montgomery County; Claire Iseli handles planning, land use, environmental and zoning issues. Please don’t hesitate to contact our offices at 240.777.7966 or via email at councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov.  
 
Filed Under: Community, Life in Bethesda
About Josette

I live and work in the areas I serve. My goal is always to put your interests first and to get you to the finish line with the least amount of hassles, the most money and the best experience possible!