Next week both houses of the Maryland General Assembly will hold hearings on MACo’s initiative bill, the Local Infrastructure Fast Track for Maryland Act. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee will hear Senate Bill 586 on Tuesday, March 7 at 1 p.m. and the House Environment and Transportation Committee, together with members of the Appropriations Committee, will hear House Bill 1322 on Thursday, March 9 at 1 p.m.

Show your support!

• Join MACo in testifying in support of this bill. To join our panel or submit written testimony, email Barbara Zektick, Associate Director now at bzektick@mdcounties.org.
• Participate in our grand finale tweet storm on Tuesday by posting to social media using the hashtag, #LIFT4MD.

Everyone who lives, works, shops, moves, eats, drinks and flushes in Maryland depends upon its infrastructure. Investing in infrastructure – a call heard at every level of government – improves Maryland jobs, business attractiveness, and quality of life across the state.

Here’s what the The Local Infrastructure Fast Track for Maryland Act does:

• Phases in full restoration of highway user revenues to counties, municipalities, and Baltimore City over a period of seven years;
• Holds municipalities harmless by ensuring they always receive as much as they did this fiscal year;
• Ensures that the State retains full auditing capability to confirm that highway user revenues are used for transportation purposes; and,
• Requests that the Department of Budget and Management prepare a report on the Status of Local Infrastructure in Maryland, including information on the condition and funding sources for multiple modes of infrastructure, such as:
  • water and wastewater treatment and delivery systems,
  • 9-1-1 Emergency Number response systems,
  • public radio systems,
  • high-speed broadband access,
  • bridges and other transportation arteries,
  • evacuation resources, and
  • school facility maintenance needs.