Maryland Governor holds first bipartisan meeting with federal legislators

By Tashi McQueen,
AFRO Political Writer,
tmcqueen@afro.com

Governor Wes Moore and leaders of Maryland recently met inside of the U.S. Capitol to discuss federal priorities for the 118th Congress, which included transportation, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and climate goals.

“We’re excited to be able to work together [on] transportation, regulation and identification. These are all things that – hold the keys to us building a state that will be more economically competitive,” said Moore.

Moore promised that Maryland’s stalled transportation projects would be accomplished under his administration.

“For the past decades, we have seen how our state has shown an inability to complete projects on time or on budget – whether we’re talking about Red Line or a Purple Line, or any number of priorities we’ve had in the state. There is going to be an ability to bring projects to completion.”

The Red Line is a decades-long initiative to connect East and West Baltimore through a transit line that the previous administration defunded.

On June 15, Moore made good on his campaign promise to relaunch the Red Line.

“This initiative is not simply an effort to pull something off the shelf and plug and play. We will be thoughtful about how to proceed and make use of the work that has already been done,” said Moore. “This fall, the MTA will start limited stop bus service to speed up travel across the Red Line corridor. [This will] help close the gap between what’s needed in the community and what’s currently being provided by the state.”

According to the Maryland Transit Administration’s website, the Purple Line is a planned 16-mile rail line extending from Bethesda, Md. to New Carrollton, Md.

Alongside Maryland’s need for adequate transportation systems, restoring SNAP benefits was another pressing agenda item.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.-02) presented Marylanders’ concerns about not yet seeing reimbursement for SNAP benefits stolen between October and September 2022.

“We, in Maryland, are the first to make sure we got this [SNAP reimbursement] program going,” said Ruppersberger.

Rafael López, secretary of Maryland human services, provided an update during the meeting.

“The state of Maryland has reimbursed 10,671 families totaling $6.67 million. This is food, diapers for children clothes for families,” said López.

Though Lopez promised to work with the Maryland General Assembly and support the work of the federal legislators, he did not say whether all impacted Marylanders will see relief anytime soon.

Tashi McQueen is a Report For America Corps Member.

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