Big-Ticket Transit, School Issues Top 2006 Agenda

Montgomery County legislators will renew their push for more money for school construction and transportation projects and will tackle thorny issues such as whether to allow deer hunting in the county on Sundays when the General Assembly convenes next week.

In response to the controversy over construction of Clarksburg Town Center, the delegation will also consider a proposal to increase fines for building violations in the county.

The 90-day session opens as County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) is running for the Democratic nomination for governor and most of the county's 32-member delegation to Annapolis is gearing up to run for reelection.

For months, Duncan has been a vocal critic of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his policies. It remains to be seen whether Duncan's attacks on Ehrlich, who largely controls the budget, will affect the county's efforts in Annapolis. But Duncan and legislators are vowing to wage an aggressive campaign to bring more state dollars into Montgomery.

"We want to get our share like we have in years past," said Del. Charles E. Barkley (D), who chairs the county's delegation to the House of Delegates.

Duncan and county lawmakers are asking for $125 million in state aid for school construction projects, nearly four times what the county received last year. In addition, the delegation wants Ehrlich to fund all of the so-called Thornton plan, approved by legislators in 2002 to set goals for public school funding statewide. That would provide $17 million more in direct aid to Montgomery's public school system.

The county is also hoping to secure millions of dollars to upgrade its network of mass transit services and highways, including $5.2 million to construct the Silver Spring Transit Center. The $12 million project, half of which would be funded by the federal government, would be a central facility, located at the Silver Spring Metro station, where residents could take Metro, MARC trains or a variety of bus services. Currently, the Metro and MARC stations are several blocks apart.

"It's going to combine all of the area's transit in one place," said Sen. Ida G. Ruben (D), who chairs the county's Senate delegation.

The Duncan administration also plans to request increased funding for after-school, adult education, rental assistance and affordable housing programs.

When it comes to fighting for additional state aid, Montgomery legislators traditionally have been united. But other debates in Annapolis this year are expected to cause dissension.

Lawmakers will consider an amendment to the state constitution that could make it harder to use petitions to put a referendum onto the ballot in Montgomery. Under current law, 10,000 signatures are needed to place a question on the ballot. The delegation will consider a measure, sponsored by Barkley, to require at least 25,000 signatures.

Barkley said the effort to reform the referendum process is aimed at thwarting anti-tax activist Robin Ficker, who has been petitioning questions onto the ballot since the 1970s. County leaders say Ficker's referendums, few of which voters have approved, are a distraction and are often costly to fight.