Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Friday, January 22, 2016

Sen. Mathias has busy first week at session

This session of the Maryland General Assembly has started at a full sprint, with potential veto overrides and a host of new bills to be processed, hearings, committee meetings — and all this even before Gov. Larry Hogan presents his budget, which traditionally takes up a good portion of time.

Sen. Jim Mathias (D-38) is at the center of a few of these discussions. His proposal for an environmental impact study on a third crossing of the bay bridge had its first hearing this week, he’s weighing options in the ongoing veto override debate and he has a couple of local measures to shepherd through the process.

“I’m looking forward to a good hearing — it’s all about planning,” he said. “As the backups continue and the volume grows, the costs to maintain the bay bridge will also grow. We need a responsible plan for the future.”

Mathias’ proposal for a third bay crossing is scheduled for Wednesday. At its heart, SB56 does little but require the Maryland Transportation Authority to begin saving for an environmental impact study for a potential third crossing at a rate of the greater of $1 million or 5 percent of the total cost of the study per year. The final cost of the study isn’t known, but Mathias estimates it to cost between $30-35 million.

More

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, if they hadn't squandered the toll money on other things, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Anonymous said...

Did you know the lottery commision pays the tolls on big holidays? Always broke..They never have enough money. Wah wah wah. Take it out of your salary Jimmo!! Include all your libtarded tax suckers buddies too?

Anonymous said...

We don't need another northern crossing, we need a southern crossing.

Anonymous said...

All you construction types that are now seeing virtually no new building permits for new single family homes can thank this stupid state senator for his efforts. Enjoy.