WASHINGTON 鈥� After a tumultuous year for Metro, local members of Congress have no plans to ease the pressure on the transit agency鈥檚 leaders.
Members from D.C., Virginia and Maryland include the struggling public transportation system among their top priorities for 2016.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 be complacent and let the current system continue,鈥� said Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Virginia.聽鈥淲e have to see changes and consequences and accountability.鈥�
Area lawmakers helped push through a $150 million annual contribution to Metro through an that will keep the federal government working into September.
The year-end spending bill also secured a higher that covers up to $255 a month for riding Metro and could help boost dragging ridership.
Local delegation members met with Metro鈥檚 new general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, in November and they expect a status report from him by June.
鈥�(I) made it very clear to him how critically important we thought getting on top of the challenges that confronted Metro was to the confidence of riders, making sure that riders continue to use (the) system, and to make sure that it is safe,鈥� said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, the House minority leader.
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He and Comstock both want to make sure that the聽federal money is聽used effectively.
Hiring qualified safety employees is also needed to improve safety and change the mindset at Metro, said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia.
But the attention won鈥檛 just be focused on Metro鈥檚 leadership, Warner said.
鈥淲e have to keep the pressure on in terms of all of the jurisdictions who have to work with Metro to make sure that the radio communications are working efficiently,鈥� Warner said. 鈥淎nd, hopefully at the end of the year, we鈥檒l say that this was the year that Metro got its act together, turned itself around.鈥�
Securing support for another $150 million for Metro in 2017聽will top Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton鈥檚 goals for the year.
But Norton, D-D.C., believes it will be easier to convince Congress to provide the money聽now that a new general manager has been hired. She hopes that lawmakers are realizing that an idled Metro system can also disrupt the wheels of the government, as almost half of riders are federal workers.
鈥淢etro is America鈥檚 Metro line, not the region鈥檚 Metro line,鈥� Norton said. 鈥淚f you close down Metro or do not fund Metro on the kind of continuing basis we started this year, you will in fact be shutting down the federal government itself.鈥�
Warner
In addition to Metro, college affordability and workforce training are at the top of Warner鈥檚 priority list. He鈥檚 introduced legislation that would help would-be college students and their families determine how much debt to expect, the likelihood of finding a job in their career field and what those jobs might pay, before taking out any loans.
He鈥檇 also like existing student loan-payers to be able to refinance at interest rates as low as 3 percent and to limit repayments based on a graduate鈥檚 income. Changes to the tax code could allow businesses to help pay down existing debt for employees. Such an option could help retain workers and ensure they have the skills to match the needs of a changing economy, he says.
鈥淚f I had the kind of outrageous amounts of student debt that many of these young people have right now, I probably wouldn鈥檛 be sitting in the Senate. I probably wouldn鈥檛 have been successful in business,鈥� said Warner, who co-founded the cellphone company Nextel.
He also wants to protect workers who seek the flexibility of next-generation service companies such as聽Airbnb, Uber and Postmates but who lack protections including聽unemployment insurance, disability or workers’ compensation.
鈥淲e have a real opportunity to here to think about re-imagining what the social contract is going to look like in the 21st century,鈥� he said.
Regarding聽national security, Warner believes that Congress should in Iraq and Syria to combat the Islamic State group instead of relying on a post-Sept. 11 authorization. He would support the authorization, but says the U.S. must also continue to build a coalition of regional partners to fight the armed group.
鈥淐ongress needs to get on record and tell the American specifically how we鈥檙e going to go after the bad guys,鈥� he said.
Hoyer
Tax reform tops Hoyer鈥檚 to-do list in 2016. He wants to create a more equitable tax code with lower rates, which he says would boost the economy and expand job opportunities.
The Maryland Democrat says that both Democratic lawmakers and President Barack Obama are willing to work with Republicans to bring a tax overhaul bill to the floor for a vote.
And he believes there is enough support to pass immigration reform this year. Hoyer wants the House to consider a bill passed out of the Senate that would address the nation鈥檚 immigration system, or to craft its own alternate bill. Taking no action won’t fix the problem, he said.
After the legislative successes of December under the new leadership of Speaker Paul Ryan, Hoyer is hopeful that bipartisan bill-wrangling will continue in 2016. Ryan has pledged to operate more transparently and inclusively.
鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful in fact that in fact he can do that. I鈥檓 hopeful that a deeply divided Republican Party will allow him to do that; they did not allow John Boehner to do that,鈥� Hoyer said.
Also on Hoyer’s plate will be conditions for聽federal workers. He wants to protect employees from additional pay or benefit reductions and to ensure their聽livelihoods aren鈥檛 threatened by another shutdown.
Lawmakers in December were able to secure a one聽percent cost of living increase for federal workers, who have lost ground in the last few聽years due to stagnant聽wages and benefit changes.
Comstock
鈥淣ational security issues are going to be front and center throughout this year. We know the threats aren鈥檛 just overseas,鈥� said Comstock, who chairs a subcommittee on technology.
Comstock wants the government to make long-term investments in cyber security, including researching and developing new safeguards. Such investments could help defend against cyberattacks, but also protect federal workers鈥� personal data and offer job growth and business growth opportunities in Northern Virginia, she says.
Comstock will also target heroin addiction this year. She wants to make sure treatment is available to those who are addicted to the powerful opiate, in addition to law enforcement efforts to combat the illegal drug.
鈥淧revention is the biggest issue here. It is not a drug you ever want to be anywhere near,鈥� she said.
The drug is cheaper than prescription opioids such as聽oxycodone, but offers the same high. And deaths from heroin overdoses have in the past several years.
Norton
The District’s delegate to Congress will聽be working on legislation to curb the distribution of lab-created synthetic drugs similar to Spice and K2.
The drugs are difficult for lawmakers to target because manufacturers can easily tweak the chemical formulas and skirt the law.
In an effort to combat the rise of the drugs’ abuse, D.C. passed emergency legislation last summer to that sell the drugs, and in August the District began from patients and those arrested in order to determine what type of drug they took.
She also plans to keep working to protect D.C. home rule especially on the matter of gun control. And she plans to continue working to reduce noise created by air traffic heading to Reagan National Airport, which she says is increasing.
