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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Legislation would increase Virginia’s representation on MWAA board
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Loudoun Politics
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Date: May 13, 2011 06:29AM
Legislation would increase Virginia’s representation on MWAA board
Tue., May. 10 | 12:51 PM
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/legislation_would_increase_virginias_representation_on_mwaa_board898/
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) on May 10 introduced legislation that, if passed, would allow members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to be more easily replaced and give Virginia greater representation on the board.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) on May 10 introduced legislation that, if passed, would allow members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to be more easily replaced and give Virginia greater representation on the board.
In addition, Wolf wants to make sure MWAA members leave the board when their terms expire, according to a statement released by Wolf’s office.
Virginia currently is represented by five members on the 13-member MWAA board. Maryland has two members and the District of Columbia and the federal government each have three representatives appointed by the governor and the president, respectively.
Wolf wants to increase Virginia’s representation on the panel from five to nine members and keep the number of D.C., Maryland and presidential appointees the same. If passed, the legislation would increase the 13-member board to a 17-member board.
“With both airports located in Virginia and with northern Virginia residents and local governments providing a lion’s share of the revenue for the Dulles rail project, it is only fair that the majority of the board be Virginians,” the Congressman said in a statement.
The legislation says that MWAA board members can be replaced at any time by the officials who appointed them. Under the current law, established in 1986 with Wolf as one of its sponsors, board members serve until their replacements are confirmed.
“While this may have worked in the past, in my opinion the law is being abused to keep political favorites in office, even if their service is suspect,” Wolf said in a statement introducing the bill.
Courtney Mickalonis, a spokeswoman for MWAA, said the board had not yet seen Wolf’s legislation and could not immediately provide a comment.
MWAA has recently been at the center of a heated debate among Loudoun and Fairfax County supervisors, as well as state and federal officials, including Wolf, who have come out against a recent decision by the board to go with a pricer underground Metro station for Dulles Airport. The underground station, which will be built as part of Metro’s extension into Loudoun County, will cost about $300 million more than an above-ground ground option, which was endorsed by Loudoun and Fairfax County officials.
Loudoun and Fairfax County officials have indicated that they could pull funding from the project should the MWAA board not reconsider an above-ground option.
Loudoun County Chairman Scott York (I-At Large) applauded Wolf’s legislation, saying he believed the current MWAA board’s decisions could derail the entire project of a new Metrorail branch.
“I’m grateful that he is pushing on this,” York said. “With Reagan [Airport] and Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia, it only makes only sense that the majority of the representation should be from Virginia.”
Under the terms of a 2007 financing agreement, Fairfax County is responsible for paying 16.1 percent of total project costs, Loudoun County will pay 4.8 percent and the airports authority will pay 4.1 percent. The other 75 percent was to come from federal and state funding, as well as Dulles Toll Road revenues.
Officials also have been critical of the overall price tag of the extension, which recently rose from $2.6 billion to $3.5 billion.
Wolf, in his statement on his proposed legislation, criticized the higher price tag, saying a leadership void on the board led to the dilemma
“If the current leadership is allowed to stay in place, it will very likely continue to make decisions that add to the cost of Phase 2 and further jeopardize not only MWAA’s bond rating, but the success of both airports under their control,” Wolf said. “The respective executives simply must have the ability to appoint new board members as soon as possible to prevent the current board from turning Dulles Rail into a failed project.”
Tue., May. 10 | 12:51 PM
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/legislation_would_increase_virginias_representation_on_mwaa_board898/
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) on May 10 introduced legislation that, if passed, would allow members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to be more easily replaced and give Virginia greater representation on the board.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) on May 10 introduced legislation that, if passed, would allow members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to be more easily replaced and give Virginia greater representation on the board.
In addition, Wolf wants to make sure MWAA members leave the board when their terms expire, according to a statement released by Wolf’s office.
Virginia currently is represented by five members on the 13-member MWAA board. Maryland has two members and the District of Columbia and the federal government each have three representatives appointed by the governor and the president, respectively.
Wolf wants to increase Virginia’s representation on the panel from five to nine members and keep the number of D.C., Maryland and presidential appointees the same. If passed, the legislation would increase the 13-member board to a 17-member board.
“With both airports located in Virginia and with northern Virginia residents and local governments providing a lion’s share of the revenue for the Dulles rail project, it is only fair that the majority of the board be Virginians,” the Congressman said in a statement.
The legislation says that MWAA board members can be replaced at any time by the officials who appointed them. Under the current law, established in 1986 with Wolf as one of its sponsors, board members serve until their replacements are confirmed.
“While this may have worked in the past, in my opinion the law is being abused to keep political favorites in office, even if their service is suspect,” Wolf said in a statement introducing the bill.
Courtney Mickalonis, a spokeswoman for MWAA, said the board had not yet seen Wolf’s legislation and could not immediately provide a comment.
MWAA has recently been at the center of a heated debate among Loudoun and Fairfax County supervisors, as well as state and federal officials, including Wolf, who have come out against a recent decision by the board to go with a pricer underground Metro station for Dulles Airport. The underground station, which will be built as part of Metro’s extension into Loudoun County, will cost about $300 million more than an above-ground ground option, which was endorsed by Loudoun and Fairfax County officials.
Loudoun and Fairfax County officials have indicated that they could pull funding from the project should the MWAA board not reconsider an above-ground option.
Loudoun County Chairman Scott York (I-At Large) applauded Wolf’s legislation, saying he believed the current MWAA board’s decisions could derail the entire project of a new Metrorail branch.
“I’m grateful that he is pushing on this,” York said. “With Reagan [Airport] and Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia, it only makes only sense that the majority of the representation should be from Virginia.”
Under the terms of a 2007 financing agreement, Fairfax County is responsible for paying 16.1 percent of total project costs, Loudoun County will pay 4.8 percent and the airports authority will pay 4.1 percent. The other 75 percent was to come from federal and state funding, as well as Dulles Toll Road revenues.
Officials also have been critical of the overall price tag of the extension, which recently rose from $2.6 billion to $3.5 billion.
Wolf, in his statement on his proposed legislation, criticized the higher price tag, saying a leadership void on the board led to the dilemma
“If the current leadership is allowed to stay in place, it will very likely continue to make decisions that add to the cost of Phase 2 and further jeopardize not only MWAA’s bond rating, but the success of both airports under their control,” Wolf said. “The respective executives simply must have the ability to appoint new board members as soon as possible to prevent the current board from turning Dulles Rail into a failed project.”