With Local Input, Maryland Releases BRAC Plan

By Susan Kim, STAFF WRITER

Using input from the county level, Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown released a plan outlining how the state will accommodate thousands of new jobs during the military's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
The report estimates that BRAC will add about 15,500 direct jobs (including more than 10,000 at Fort Meade) and 23,000 indirect jobs in the state, such as contractors working with military bases. There also will be about 7,300 support jobs, such as retail positions or day care jobs.
Most of the jobs will be in nine jurisdictions: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties and Baltimore City. The plan focuses on easing the strain on roads and schools, preparing the future workforce and encouraging residential development in communities most affected by BRAC.
In an $8.5 billion draft fiscal 2008-2013 Capital Transportation Program, the Maryland Department of Transportation has identified 26 BRAC-related projects. The state has already allocated $1.6 billion for BRAC projects, including the widening of Route 175 near Fort Meade.
The report also indicates that the state plans to invest $1 billion in its MARC commuter train service during the next eight years.
The O'Malley administration plans to push for three pieces of legislation to help handle BRAC growth. The first proposal includes setting aside money to bolster higher education initiatives. A second proposal creates a vehicle to encourage residential development in communities affected by the base realignment and the third idea involves giving state and local governments flexibility in negotiating with private developers to receive lump payments, as opposed to steady streams of property tax revenue.
In addition, the state is setting up employment licensing and certification reciprocity with New Jersey and Virginia; opening one-stop career centers at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey and in Northern Virginia; and working to enhance science and math education to prepare students for future jobs.
The plan calls for instituting a security clearance education program to encourage students to avoid getting into legal trouble that could jeopardize future employment in the military.

'A Good Start'
Bob Leib, the county executive's special assistant for BRAC in Anne Arundel County, said he believed the state's plan is a good start, but emphasized it's still a working document. "It's not the be-all and end-all. It's a beginning," he said.
As a planning tool, the report puts state and county leaders on the same page, he said. "It's like we're a bunch of individual baseball teams and now we're coming into the same ballpark."
Leib said he hoped the state would continue what he regards as a good track record of including county input in its plans. "I would like to see the state continue to include, discuss and advise with the regional and local people. We've all established communication and collaboration vertically and horizontally.
"Do we all get our way? No," he said, "but you wouldn't expect that with something this complicated."

The Planning Process
Executive Director Kent Menser of the Howard County BRAC office agreed with Leib that the report is a working document. "This is the start of the planning process," he said. "We look forward to reviewing it."
Menser's deputy director, Raj Kudchadkar, added that the state's report accurately reflects the needs at the county level. "A lot of our needs mimic the needs in the state report, the biggest ones being workforce development, mass transit and the highways," Kudchadkar said.