Connolly: Feds should ante up for Metro

Prince William County, Va. - The U.S. government should help pay Metrorail's operating costs because so many federal workers use the transit system, Rep. Gerald E. "Gerry" Connolly said Thursday.

Connolly, who represents much of Prince William County, told the Prince William Regional Chamber of Commerce and a federal employee group that Metro's operating budget is covered entirely by local governments and riders' fares.

That might be OK in a region that doesn't have as much federal employment, the Democrat said.

But more than 40 percent of federal workers in the Washington area use Metro, he said, and the govern-ment doesn't help foot the bill.

"I think that's wrong," Connolly told the National Active and Retired Federal Employ-ees Association's Woodbridge chapter.

The congressman said he's interested in changing this funding reality through legislative means, whether it's in a bill or in a budget earmark.

Though there are no Metro stations in Prince William, expanding the service to the county has been a hot topic for months.

The extension of the transit service was an issue in two local House of Delegates campaigns last fall, and Del. Luke E. Torian submitted a bill recently that would have furthered the planning process.

The Woodbridge Democrat's bill was tabled by a House committee, but Connolly also last year introduced federal legislation to study Metro expansion.

He said he's working to fold his bill into a large road and public transportation bill Congress should take up either this year or next.

Though he's spoken in favor of Metro expansion in the past, Connolly said Thursday that he doesn't want to pre-judge whether Metro should be extended south to Woodbridge.

However, he said transit in general is beneficial to the traffic-choked region.

"We can't just rely on the automobile -- especially those of us in Prince William County," he told the NARFE group at a meeting at the Montclair Country Club.

Connolly said at least 60,000 federal workers live in Virginia's 11th congressional district, which also takes in part of Fairfax County.

And he said he believes an equal number of federal retirees call his district home.

With those kinds of numbers here, it's "irresponsible" for the federal government not to regularly ante up, Connolly said.

Also on Thursday, the congressman spoke of the importance of federal work in general.

He told the chamber of commerce crowd at Old Hickory Golf Club that he tries to champion federal con-tracting, which has contributed to making his district the wealthiest in the nation in terms of median house-hold income.

And he noted to the NARFE group that he's the only Prince William congressman with a perfect score according to the criteria by which the group grades lawmakers.

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.