Davis' Metro Bill on Hill Faces GOP Critics

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CONSERVATIVES ON CAPITOL HILL are attacking Republican Rep. Tom Davis of Northern Virginia, whose bill to steer $1.5 billion to Metro is being called "the largest earmark in history."

This morning, Roll Call takes a look at the status of Davis' legislation and notes that while it's sure to pass the Democratic-controlled Congress, Republicans have tried to slow its passage. (A sample of conservative criticism: Phillip Rodokanakis, president of the Virginia Club for Growth, says that "Metro is broke and if anyone is serious about fixing it, they should consider privatizing it, not giving it more government dole.")

In the last Congress, the House passed a similar version of Davis' bill, but it didn't gain traction in the Senate, where it stalled. So Davis isn't worried about the current bill not passing, considering the strong bipartisan support.

Meanwhile, this morning in The Post, Eric M. Weiss writes about the one big missing piece in Davis regional funding formula: Maryland. The legislature in Annapolis adjourned its 90-day session on Tuesday without passing any sort of transit funding legislation that D.C. and, recently, Virginia, have OK'd as required by Davis' bill on Capitol Hill. However, Gov. Martin O'Malley says that the state's transportation trust fund meets the Davis bill's required "dedicated funding" definition.

» "GOP Split on Metro" [Roll Call, subscription req'd]
» "Metro Funding Depends on Md." [WaPo]