BRAC: Maryland's Fair Share

Senator Mikulski was a leader in the fight to prepare Maryland communities and military bases for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. The BRAC Commission's recommendations were a huge success and will bring thousands of new employees to the state. This includes 10,000 new jobs that will never leave the country, in addition to 85,000 existing jobs on bases and up to 40,000 non-direct jobs.

As the chair of the Maryland congressional delegation, Senator Mikulski is leading the fight to make sure that Maryland gets its fair share. This means working closely with Team Maryland: the congressional delegation, County Executives and local County leadership, and Governor Martin O'Malley, on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis as needed.

To prepare for the increase of employees, commuters and students, Senator Mikulski is working to get the federal resources local counties need so that costs do not fall on local taxpayers.

Fighting for Federal Funds: Transportation & Military Construction

As a key member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Military Construction, Senator Mikulski is fighting hard for the federal investment Maryland needs to help prepare and manage the expected growth from the 2005 BRAC recommendations.

Senator Mikulski is fighting to provide a federal investment to improve our highways and byways including mass transit systems like MARC trains, and the transit centers and arteries around Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Fort Meade and the National Naval Medical Center. In addition to fighting to increase Maryland's federal formula dollars for highways and mass transit from $540 million to $760 million per year for Governor O'Malley and the Maryland Department of Transportation's allocation, Senator Mikulski fought for nearly $15.4 million for BRAC-related transportation priorities in the fiscal year 2008 omnibus spending bill:

• $9.8 million for the MARC Commuter Rail System. The funding will be used for new locomotives and railcars, to study new station locations and to improve existing stations.
• $2.2 million to improve access to Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) in Harford County.
• $1.97 million to improve access to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda by making adjustments to the already congested Route 355.
• $657,000 for the Central Maryland Transit Operations Facility at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County to house and maintain Maryland Transit Administration buses that will serve Anne Arundel, Howard and northern Prince George's Counties.
• $490,000 for improvements to intersections on Route 175 leading to Fort Meade.
• $245,000 for U.S. 15 at Monocacy Boulevard to improve access to Fort Detrick in Frederick County.

Senator Mikulski is also standing sentry to make sure the Defense Department is funding improvements and infrastructure adjustments at Maryland's bases. In response to the President's veto threat, Congress cut $1 billion from the BRAC Military Construction account.  The executive branch will now re-evaluate BRAC funding for individual initiatives across the nation with the almost $7.3 billion allotted.  Team Maryland will continue to fight to ensure that Maryland's BRAC military construction projects are fully funded.  Senator Mikulski and her fellow appropriators will push to restore funding when Congress considers the next emergency supplemental proposal early next year.

Senator Mikulski is also helping local county governments get additional funding through competitive federal grant programs. In addition to working hard to increase the funding sources for these programs, Senator Mikulski has provided helpful resources to county leadership and aggressively lends a hand to elevate priority applications.

Fighting for Local Schools

Senator Mikulski is fighting for increases to key education programs, which could dramatically ease pressure on local and state government budgets and allow more funds to support BRAC-implementation efforts, including:

• $12 million increase to support school districts in anticipation of new student population:   Senator Mikulski fought for a $100 million increase for the federal Impact Aid program in the 2008 budget, and the final omnibus spending bill included a $12 increase for a total of $1.24 billion. This federal program provides funding to school districts that have increased enrollment due to federally connected children. These are students with a parent who is either a member of the Armed Forces living and/or working on a military base, or who is a civilian contractor working on a military base or other federally owned land. Impact Aid funds can be used for school construction, hiring new teachers, and updating technology. The Department of Defense estimates that Maryland will receive at least an additional 4,000 federally connected students between 2007 and 2011, with Harford and Anne Arundel County school districts among the most heavily impacted.

• $500 million increase to fulfill the federal government's commitment to special education: Senator Mikulski is continuing her fight to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure that funding for special needs students is not an unfunded federal mandate on counties and communities. Senator Mikulski fought for a $500 million increase in the 2008 omnibus spending bill. The IDEA program entitles children with disabilities to a public education and provides federal funds to help schools with the cost. However, the federal government has not made good on its commitment, leaving local districts to make up the difference by skimping on special education, cutting from other education programs, or raising taxes.