Staff Reports
In a stunning turn of events, the Virginia Senate has had a change of heart and decided to cough up some extra dough to fund the Metro transit agency. After some serious arm-twisting and promises of reforms from the struggling agency, Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, a Democrat from Portsmouth, took to X – the social media site formerly known as Twitter – to announce the decision.
Virginia Senate to include additional funding for Metro in budgethttps://t.co/jma9DQt1vs
— The Center Square (@thecentersquare) March 4, 2024
But hold onto your hats, folks – the specific amount of this newfound funding still remains a mystery. It’s like playing a game of hide and seek with taxpayer dollars, and no one seems to want to spill the beans on just how much they’re throwing at this sinking ship.
Let’s not forget that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, or WMATA for short, had the nerve to ask the good people of the Commonwealth for a cool $130 million. Oh, but that’s not all – our pals in the neighboring states of Maryland and the District of Columbia have also agreed to pony up the cash, with $150 million and $200 million respectively. Talk about a money pit!
The House of Delegates isn’t innocent in all of this, either. Their proposed budget includes a whopping $144 million for the Metro over the next two years. It’s like they’re just throwing money around like confetti at a parade!
But it’s not just about the money – oh no, it’s about politics, too. The Democrats have been using the Metro funding issue to throw a wrench in the works for a proposed Monumental Sports and Entertainment area in Alexandria. They’re holding out and stalling progress, insisting that Metro funding has to be part of the deal before they’ll move forward with building the arena – a project that our very own Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has been championing.
Now, Gov. Youngkin has been making some noise about being open to the idea of funding the Metro, but he’s not about to just open up the floodgates of cash without some serious strings attached. He’s all about the “long-term sustainability” of WMATA and has been squawking about the need for federal workers to get their butts back into the Metro. He’s even suggested tightening the purse strings on administrative expenses and cracking down on folks who try to skip out on paying their fares.
But here’s the kicker – nobody knows for sure if this additional funding measure will pass muster with the transit agency or if Gov. Youngkin will give it the green light. It’s like a high-stakes game of political poker, and the taxpayers are the ones left holding the chips.
