On February 7, MACo Executive Director Michael Sanderson testified in support of HB 82, a bill to strengthen the state’s “Complete Streets” program and ensure funding for a local grant component of that effort.

From MACo’s testimony:

Maryland created a Complete Streets Program through 2018 legislation to offer grants to local jurisdictions seeking to develop and implement such policies for their own locally-managed roadways. This centralized system was an effective means to develop in-house expertise and guidance for local jurisdictions, and to offer the incentives to help overcome potential administrative hurdles to seeing these productive policies adopted locally.

The bill established the grant program at $1 million per year, and also adds “food deserts” (areas where access to healthy foods is limited by market conditions and other factors) as a component of a Complete Streets program. The Maryland Municipal League also supported the bill.