Where does Metro live and what is her last name?
Posted on 02/26/2022 2:54:53 AM PST by Libloather
D.C. Councilmembers are considering a bill that would allocate $100 a month for residents to ride the Metro.
The bill, Metro for DC Amendment Act of 2022, is authored by Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6). The $100 would come from surplus funds at the end of the city’s fiscal year.
Additionally, $10 million would be dedicated to improving the District’s bus service.
Supporters of the bill argue by paying for trips taken, the $100 per resident proposal could get cars off the streets and subsidize Metro’s service costs. Proponents of Allen’s bill also say it will help the environment and take a burden off the budgets of those who rely on public transportation.
**SNIP**
Critics say that undocumented workers would have to register with the District to receive the benefit. Also, skeptics say that residents who have financial means should pay for their own trips without government assistance and some public sector workers, such as those who work in the federal sector, shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the program because they receive Metro cards that are paid for.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtoninformer.com ...
Only if Congress has to ride it too.
Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Congress as an interstate compact between the Washington D.C., the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
It’s not the “residents” cars that are the problem in DC. It’s the suburban commuters that drive in because public transpo is so effed up. Give each commuter, free metro money and you might see an uptick in ridership.
Where does DC budget come from?
Most of its funding comes from the federal government.
Once agreement is reached between the Mayor and the Council, the budget is adopted and transmitted to the President of the United States for submission to Congress for approval. Congress must approve the District’s budget as part of one of the 12 annual federal appropriations bills.
So these cards will be sold for drug money, solving nothing and making an existing problem worse.
Here are excerpts from an article on DC’s 2022 budget.
The $17.5 billion budget crafted by Mayor Muriel Bowser and tweaked by lawmakers over the last two months dramatically expands spending on housing and homeless services, directs payments and aid to low-income residents, funnels more funding to violence interruption programs while trimming police spending.
Below are some of the notable things included in the 2022 budget, which takes effect Oct. 1.
Payments to residents
Spurred by the pandemic’s uneven impact on D.C. residents and last summer’s racial justice protests, the budget includes significant direct payments to low-income residents — including a novel program that advocates say could help put a dent in the wealth gap between white and Black residents. That’s the baby bonds program, which will invest up to $600 a year into trust funds for residents under the age of 18 — money they will then be able to use to pay for college, start a business, or buy a house. (You may remember New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker touting a similar plan when he briefly ran for president.
Lawmakers also directed some of the revenue from the tax increase on wealthy residents to expand a local tax credit for low-income residents and families — and pay out the refund in monthly installments of up to $500, akin to a basic minimum income. Up to 10,000 residents who waited for more than two months to get their first unemployment benefits will get a one-time $500 payment, while undocumented residents and workers who did not receive any federal assistance will be eligible for payments from a new $41 million fund. (The one-time payment is expected to be around $3,000; advocates had been hoping for a much bigger fund of $200 million.) The council also moved to exempt unemployment benefits from taxes, sparing tens of thousands of residents a nasty surprise next April.
Housing and homelessness
Affordable housing (or the lack of it) is an ever-pressing issue in D.C. — and city officials responded accordingly. Bowser dramatically increased funding for the Housing Production Trust Fund (the city’s main tool for building and preserving affordable housing) to $400 million over the next two years, which is expected to produce some 2,800 units of housing. (There’s also $17.7 million for a separate fund to preserve affordable housing.) The council also increased funding for repairing public housing to $50 million and incorporated a proposal from Councilmember Robert White (D-At Large) that will allow the city to convert rental units into permanently affordable housing.
To address the ongoing challenge of chronic homelessness, a portion of the revenue from the tax increase on wealthy residents will go towards providing permanent housing for more than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness — an investment that homeless advocates call a “game-changer for ending homelessness in the District.” The council did reject a last-minute provision from Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) to give tax breaks to developers who convert downtown office buildings to housing; some lawmakers said the idea needed a full airing before being voted on.
Policing and public safety
As much as Bowser has recently pushed to increase police hiring, it was actually her initial budget proposal that trimmed the Metropolitan Police Department’s budget — and significantly expanded funding for violence interruption efforts and Building Blocks D.C., her new gun violence prevention initiative. She also unveiled a pilot program to divert more non-emergency 911 calls to mental health professionals. Lawmakers built upon that by expanding funding for a restorative justice program in the attorney general’s office, creating a new position of Deputy D.C. Auditor for Public Safety, and expanding staffing for the D.C. Office of Police Complaints. And in a notable police-reform measure that went largely unnoticed, the council approved a phased removal of police officers from public schools.
So these cards will be sold for drug money, solving nothing and making an existing problem worse.
If they want to make it easier for the “poor” to ride public transit reduce fares for everyone or simply admit that public transit is never going to be profitable and provide the service for free.
Where does Metro live and what is her last name?
Where does Metro live and what is her last name?
I live in city. I would welcome free public transit and would vote, yes, in a nano-second.
Even though I don’t use public transit, it would be worth it to me personally.
A normal seven-day pass (for all regions under Metro)...is $58. So I’d question the $100 being enough to do much.
I’d also ask the question...out of 692k residents...how many use Metro presently? I doubt that it’s more than one-third of them. The present rider situation? Mostly non-DC residents...that’s what I find odd about how the city council worded this.
A DIY social credit system.
Pay people who obey you.
Tax people who don’t.
States and municipalities give special benefits to their residents all the time. I think this is a bad idea, but I’m missing the basis of your take here.
(Of course, my actually reading the article might change that...)
D.C. isn’t that big. Why can’t they walk or ride their bikes? Help protect “da enviomen”.
Such a statement begs that you also supply the explanation.
How would it be worth it to you, personally?
Regards,
“Critics say that undocumented workers would have to register with the District to receive the benefit.”
Yes. That caught my eye also. I like the euphemism for illegal aliens. And I like the implication that the city should protect illegal aliens from the law. Might as well complain that nearby security cameras might help to identify criminals.
Come to think of it. In D.C. you might be as likely to be judged a criminal if you wear a MAGA cap as if you as if you loot a store.
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