Coalition for Smarter Growth | Sustainable Mobility for Arlington County | Washington Area Bicyclist Association | Greater Greater Washington | Sierra Club – Virginia Chapter Active Prince William | Grassroots Alexandria | CASA | Clean Fairfax | The Piedmont Environmental Council | Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke | Southern Environmental Law Center | RVA Rapid Transit | Nature Forward | Virginia League of Conservation Voters | Friends of Dyke Marsh | Virginia Bicycling Federation | Chesapeake Climate Action Network Fund | Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets | Fairfax Families for Safe Streets | Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions

PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 12, 2024

21 Groups Urge the General Assembly to Reject

Governor Youngkin’s Metro Budget Amendment

and 

Call for restoring General Assembly approved funding of $65 million in state funds in FY25 and $87 million in FY26

Governor Youngkin slashed the General Assembly’s additional funding for Metro by 76 percent, allocating no money in FY25 and just $35 million in FY26 (Amendment 179 of Item 433). The Governor also added budget language requiring a set of studies unnecessarily redundant to a General Assembly approved study under SJ28.

The General Assembly had committed $65 million in FY25 to match $65 million from Northern Virginia localities, and $87 million from the state in FY26, which would also be matched by Northern Virginia. These additional funds were the minimum additional funding needed to help close WMATA’s operating funding gap and were necessary to match formula commitments by DC and Maryland.

Failure to provide additional state funding will have dire consequences for the workforce and economy of Northern Virginia and the DC region. It would mean massive service cuts and fare hikes at Metro, higher transportation costs for workers, and more congestion on the roads, and discourage next generation companies and workers from locating in the DC region. 

The groups signing onto this press statement urge the General Assembly to reject Governor Youngkin’s budget amendment and restore the funding the General Assembly agreed to. They should also reject the Governor’s budget language requiring a redundant set of studies of WMATA. The General Assembly has already passed SJ28, which establishes a comprehensive study of transit in Northern Virginia including WMATA.

The General Assembly recognized the critical value of Metro to the economy, workforce, and transportation system of Northern Virginia and the over $1 billion per year in tax revenue that Metro-generated economic activity provides to the state (NVTC analysis). We thank the legislators for their support for Metro and urge them to reject the Governor’s amendments regarding Metro. 

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