Regional transit leaders say six steps could help Metro stay on a viable financial footing, but they fear more of the cost could fall on local governments.
Despite recent steps in the right direction, “the fundamental long-term funding question remains unsolved,” Owen Williams, a program analyst with the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC), said at the organization’s board of directors meeting last Thursday (Nov. 5).
The labor union representing workers at three local bus systems across Northern Virginia is reacting favorably to a proposal for a regional merger.
“It will be better for workers and for riders, better for communities,” said Benjamin Lynn, a representative of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, during an Oct. 21 roundtable discussion convened to consider the possibility of consolidating Fairfax Connector, Fairfax City’s CUE Bus, Arlington Transit (ART) and Alexandria’s DASH.
Democrats are in good spirits locally and nationally after securing major victories in yesterday’s elections, including majorities in both chambers of Congress as well as key seats in both battleground and traditionally Republican states like Texas, Georgia, Michigan and Maine.
In solidly blue Fairfax County, the results fell in line with expectations, as voters joined the rest of Virginia in reelecting Sen. Mark Warner, along with incumbent Reps. James Walkinshaw (D-11), Suhas Subramanyam (D-10) and Don Beyer (D-8).
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed staff yesterday (Tuesday) to stay in close touch with the Spanberger administration as the state government refines rules for dealing with data center development.
The county government needs to be “fully engaged” and ensure its “needs, challenges and experiences are represented” in a statewide discussion, Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith said when introducing the directive to staff.
The Fairfax County School Board is asking lawmakers in Richmond to increase state funding for K-12 programs, provide state-funded universal Pre-K programs, and make changes to Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act as part of its 2027 Legislative Program.
In preparation for the General Assembly’s coming session in January, the school board voted unanimously (with the exception of one absent member) on Oct. 8 to adopt eight priority positions for the state legislature and another 11 at the federal level.
Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34) called for restraint as the state’s political establishment reels from accusations of marijuana trafficking and money laundering against Senate President pro tempore L. Louise Lucas.
One of the state’s most powerful Democrats and Portsmouth’s representative in the state Senate since 1991, Lucas (D-18) was charged today (Thursday) by the U.S. Department of Justice with racketeering, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and maintaining a drug-involved premises.
Regional leaders agree more collaboration could be beneficial, but see little reason to pursue a consolidation of four Northern Virginia bus systems into one.
“I did come here … with an open mind, open to any compelling reason [to support consolidation],” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said at an Oct. 21 roundtable convened by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT). “I’m still looking for it — I don’t see it.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors set the stage yesterday (Oct. 13) for a tax on recreational marijuana at the highest rate allowed when retail sales become legal next summer.
On a 10-0 vote, the supervisors directed staff to develop an ordinance that would impose a 3.5% cannabis tax on top of the state sales tax and a 6% state marijuana tax, all slated to take effect when Virginia starts permitting retail sales on July 1, 2027.
The state government needs to step up and take some of the burden for funding core services off the backs of Northern Virginia residents and localities, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay told members of the county’s legislative delegation.
“The exhaustion level is getting real,” McKay said of the state pushing off its funding responsibilities to the local level.
Members of Fairfax County’s General Assembly delegation are asking county supervisors and school board members to lower the rhetoric when it comes to state funding for local K-12 education.
“Be thoughtful about the way you talk,” Del. Laura Jane Cohen (D-16) told the Board of Supervisors during an Oct. 6 joint work session between the board and the county’s state legislative representatives.
