A Virginia lawmaker is threatening to block state funding for the second phase of the Dulles Metro rail project unless the board in charge of the project eliminates what is perceived to be a union-friendly labor agreement with the contractor and subjects itself to greater public scrutiny.
The legislation filed by Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, would block $150 million in state funding for the rail project, which would extend Metro from Reston to Loudoun County, unless the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority agrees to subject itself to the state’s freedom of information laws and allows the state to audit the $6 billion rail project.
Marshall also would forbid the airports authority from entering into any labor agreement with the project’s contractor. The authority earlier said it would mandate a labor agreement that some worried would promote the hiring of union labor even though Virginia is a right-to-work state.
“I am highly suspicious of MWAA. There is no outside accountability,” Marshall said. “We’re not made of money in Virginia.”
The airports authority ran afoul of Northern Virginia leaders earlier this year when the authority decided to build an underground Metro station at Dulles despite its higher costs and the objections of counties that would be paying for it.
But Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton said the state’s current funding agreement already solves the problems the bill addresses, since it already creates an oversight committee, allows Virginia to audit the rail project and won’t allow for any labor agreement that contradicts Virginia right-to-work laws.
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“There will be no discrimination against any contractor or subcontractor based on union affiliation,” he said. “The administration is committed to getting the project done as long as it is the lowest price we can get and doesn’t violate our laws.”
Del. Joe May, R-Leesburg, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he thought MWAA was already becoming more open.
“Frankly we’re already moving toward attempting to correct some of the issues along that line,” he said. “I think there’s a pretty high probability that the state will approve funding. Let’s face it, this is a major part of Virginia’s transportation system. We’re very far down the road.”
MWAA board chairman Charles Snelling said in an e-mail that the authority was committed to the agreement it made with the state for the second phase of the project.
