In the News

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) today voted in the House for the compromise continuing resolution to fund the federal government through September 30, citing the inclusion of $150 million in funding for Metro infrastructure and safety improvements and funds to help relieve transportation problems related to BRAC at Fort Belvoir, and the need to keep the federal government open for business.

Connolly expressed concern about some of the cuts to important programs contained in the bill. “However, the need to provide desperately-needed funding for Metro capital improvements and transportation projects to deal with 22,000 new workers coming to Fort Belvoir due to BRAC overrode those concerns,” he said.  “This is a victory for Northern Virginia.”

Since February, when the Republicans unveiled their initial short-term budget bill which eliminated the annual $150 million payment for Metro that is matched by $50 million each from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, Connolly has fought relentlessly to reinstate federal funding.

In an effort to save the funding, Connolly offered an amendment on the House floor, wrote to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell urging him to weigh in with the entire Virginia congressional delegation, communicated the urgency of the matter with his Senate colleagues, and lobbied the White House and the House leadership to ensure the funding was included in the final compromise spending bill that came to the House floor today.

When the Republican budget plan came to the floor in mid-February, Connolly offered the amendment, supported by most of the area congressional delegation, to restore the annual $150 million payment to Metro.  During debate on his amendment, Connolly argued that, “The effort by Republicans to eliminate the fiscal year 2011 federal payment to Metro is an egregious abrogation of the contract Congress made with Virginia, Maryland, and DC.  It jeopardizes everything we’ve tried to do, in a bipartisan manner, to improve Metro safety.”

But Connolly’s amendment was killed by the House Republican majority.

At the same time, Connolly wrote to Governor McDonnell, urging him “to join me in opposing legislation that would eliminate the federal government’s $150 million commitment for Metro.”  Connolly asked McDonnell to reach out to House leadership and the entire Virginia delegation, noting that the legislation “would threaten the economic prosperity of the Commonwealth and undermine critical transportation investments on which we have partnered.”

The Virginia governor subsequently wrote a letter to the Republican Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, and the Virginia delegation in support of the funding.  McDonnell also raised Connolly’s concerns at a March meeting he held on Capitol Hill with the entire Virginia delegation.

When the House-passed short-term spending bill reached the Senate, it was defeated in that body, forcing House Republicans to prepare a new bill, which involved input from the White House and Senate leadership.

The new bill to fund the government through September 30 passed the afternoon of April 14 by a vote of 260-167.  Fifty-nine Republicans voted no for the House GOP bill, while 81 Democrats, including Connolly, supported the measure.  The legislation is the largest cut in federal spending in history,

The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.  It must be passed by Friday night to prevent a government shutdown.

The annual $150 million federal payment, matched by $150 million in funds from the three jurisdictions, will provide Metro with $3 billion over 10 years.  The National Transportation Safety Board estimates that Metro need $1 billion for safety improvements.