State and County planners are studying a proposed Bus Rapid Transit route along Viers Mill Road, which would connect the Rockville and Wheaton Metro stations and make our county easier to live, work, and play in. Here is some more information about the study and an upcoming meeting about the project on May 23.

Delegate Sam Arora today applauded Governor Martin O’Malley’s announcement the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) project would be moving forward and submitted to federal authorities to begin the engineering process. Governor O'Malley announced that the locally preferred alternative for the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) will be Maryland’s first Bus Rapid Transit system operating along a 15-mile north-south corridor from the Shady Grove Metrorail station (partly in Delegate Arora’s legislative district) to the COMSAT facility near Clarksburg in Montgomery County.

Here is an update from the House Judiciary Committee to members of the Maryland Bar on notable accomplishments during the 2012 Legislative Session:

Dear Members of the Maryland Bar:

We have prepared a list of passed legislation from the 2012 Legislative Session of the General Assembly that may be of interest to you. A chapter number (“Ch.”) indicates that the bill has been enacted. A bill passed, but not yet enacted, is still subject to a veto by the Governor. Please note that most of the legislation will not become effective until later this year. 

Civil Actions and Procedures

During a marathon legislative session that included debate on the proposal to shift a significant portion of the public school teachers pension obligation on to local jurisdictions like Montgomery County, Delegate Arora and four other Montomgery Delegates voted to strip the shift out of the supplemental budget package.  MarylandReporter reported on March 23:

In a nearly 11-hour session, the House of Delegates fended off proposals to level fund the fiscal 2013 budget, block shifting teacher pension costs, and eliminate an income tax hike. . . .