Statement on 2025 Legislative Priorities
Public transportation is a key to growing Maryland’s economy and increasing economic opportunity for the working people. As a bipartisan and bicameral caucus, the top priority of the Maryland Transit Caucus for the 2025 legislative session is to ensure that Maryland maintains safe, effective, and reliable transit systems.
We appreciate the Administration’s budget proposal, which makes progress in addressing our state’s transportation needs. However, current proposed levels of transportation funding still fall far short of what is needed to ensure an optimally functioning transit system.
Specifically, we seek sufficient additional funding for:
Maintaining the MTA system in a state of good repair including the projected amount in the forthcoming capital needs inventory;
Contributing Maryland’s fair share to maintain the WMATA system in a state of good repair;
Improving local transit by increasing funds for the Locally Operated Transit System Grant Program; and
Increasing funds to MTA for improving reliability, frequency, and accessibility of core bus service.
We believe that to accomplish this, we need to identify at least $250 million in new revenue this year, beyond the recommended amounts in the Administration’s FY 2026 budget.
There have been a variety of transit funding bills introduced this year and the Transit Caucus has endorsed a number of them; however, we are not prioritizing any specific funding solution.
We know that the House Ways and Means and Senate Budget and Tax Committees are evaluating these bills. We call on those committees and General Assembly leadership to find solutions that will generate sufficient revenue to maintain and operate our transit systems at a level that provides the safe and reliable service users expect and deserve. This is crucial for economic growth in the state and for economic security for all Marylanders.
