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2012 Rockville Legislative Priorities
The Mayor and Council approved the legislative priorities for the 2012 General Assembly Session at their June 13, 2011 meeting. Rockville forwarded item #1 Restoration of Highway User Revenues (HUR), and item #3 Legislation to Allow Non-Sworn Officers to sign off on speed camera violations, to the Maryland Municipal League (the Association of Maryland Cities and Towns) for consideration for inclusion in their 2012 League priority program. The MML Legislative Committee voted to recommend that Restoration of Highway User Revenues and Police Aid as the sole priority for 2012. The MML membership will decide on the League's legislative priorities in November 2011.
For those City priorities that are not adopted by MML, Rockville's legislative staff will work with the Mayor and Council, District 17 Delegation, other municipalities, and the City's state lobbyist to advance the City's 2012 agenda.
The following list is a summary of the priorities. For more detailed information about each priority, please view the June 13, 2011 Mayor and Council agenda item.
1. Restoration of Highway User Revenues (HUR)
MML and cities across the state achieved a major victory in the 2011 session with the restoration of approximately 25% of municipal HUR. This followed several years of significant municipal HUR reductions of more than 95% by the State's FY12 budget allocated more than $9.9 million dollars for municipal HUR, and Rockville's FY12 allocation is estimated at $739,732. MML stated that the Maryland Legislature indicated the FY12 restoration was a "one time" occurrence. For FY13 and beyond, there is much more work to be done to bring full restoration for HUR. The most recent estimates from the State Highway Administration, in accordance with the FY12 Adopted State Budget, is $488,306, but this could be changed in the 2012 Session. With fully funded HUR revenues, Rockville would receive more than $3 million. MLA's Legislative Committee has recommended that this issue be the sole priority for the League during the 2012 session, and its membership will vote on the priority program in November 2011.
2. Statewide Stormwater Management Utility Legislation
To build on efforts in the 2010 and 2011 legislative Sessions, Rockville will continue to advocate for this priority in 2012. The primary goal of this effort is to maintain Rockville' stormwater management program and utility fee in its current form and to clarify language in State law to require County payment of the fee. The legislation would also serve as a means for affected jurisdictions to establish a funding source that can be used to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency "pollution diet" requirements for the clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay.
Rockville’s 2012 legislative priority includes the following three components:
3. Legislation to Allow Non-Sworn Officer Sign Off On Speed Camera Violations
Rockville will advocate for this priority in 2012, to build upon efforts in support of 2011 legislation introduced on this issue. This legistion would permit an authorized individual trained in speed monitoring enforcement to sign off on the speed camera photo that recorded the violations, rather than requiring a law enforcment officer to sgin off on it. Using sworn police officers for the administrative task of signing off on speed camera violations is a financial burden to police departments and not an optimal use of sworn officers. If adopted, this legislation wold allow the Rockville City Police to deploy back on the streets sworn officers currently doing this work. If this is adopted, this legislation could save Rockville as much as $20,000 annually under current staffing levels.