Increased funding for seniors, the protection of funding for youth services and state aid for repairs to the historic King Farm Farmstead dairy barns were among the wins for Rockville during the 2017 Maryland General Assembly session that concluded April 10.
Lawmakers approved legislation, backed by the city, to establish the Healthy Aging Program for seniors. The program enhances senior well-being programs and services in the state budget, and authorizes the state to accept funding for seniors from private sources and to apply for a broader array of federal grants. Rockville’s population of seniors, age 65 and older, is 11,900 residents – 18 percent of the city’s population.
The Fiscal Year 2018 state budget preserves funding for youth services bureaus. Rockville’s Community Services Division, a youth service bureau partially funded by the state, provides prevention and intervention services to at-risk youth. Learn more at www.rockvillemd.gov/communityservices.
Rockville also received $1.4 million for road maintenance and small infrastructure improvement projects. This is the fifth consecutive year the state has provided such a one-time restoration in highway user revenue. Lawmakers failed to address a city priority of permanently restoring the funding, which was cut during the Great Recession.
A state bond bill will give the city $100,000 for repairs and renovations to stabilize the historic King Farm Farmstead dairy barns. Learn more at www.rockvillemd.gov/kingfarmfarmstead.
For more details on the city’s state legislative priorities, contact Linda Moran at lmoran@rockvillemd.gov or 240-314-8115.