Bursting the Bubble: How to Promote Opportunity in the National Capital Region

Bursting the Bubble, a report that we produced with The Commonwealth Institute of Virginia and the DC Fiscal Policy Institute takes a deep look into the recent economic growth in the national capital region and finds that this prosperity is far from broadly shared. Today we’ll consider how policymakers in Maryland can work with their counterparts in DC and Virginia to ensure that all residents can benefit from the region’s economic growth.

Make Work Pay

Fortunately, Maryland has been a leader in enacting policies that help ensure that working adults have enough income to support their families. During the recently concluded legislative session, the General Assembly passed legislation to raise the state minimum was and expand the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit. At the local level, Prince George’s and Montgomery County coordinated with the DC city council to enact a higher minimum wage in their jurisdictions to combat the high cost of living there. This kind of cross-boundary cooperation is important to address the unique political and geographic circumstances of the national capital region.

But there is more work to do. While the minimum wage increase in Maryland was an important victory, without automatic increases that keep up with  inflation, the power of this victory will diminish over time as workers’ ability to make ends meet is tied to politics rather than economic realities. Further, worker for whom a substantial portion of income comes from tips – like restaurant wait staff —  were left out of this deal completely. There are important gender equity issues here as well: 72 percent of such workers are women.

Skill Building

One of the biggest economic problems in the national capital region is the gap in both income and employment between workers that are highly educated and those that are not. We need to continue efforts to make higher education affordable for all residents. Further, Maryland can continue to improve and expand its EARN program, a workforce training initiative, to ensure that all workers have the skills necessary to find gainful employment in today’s economy.

Health Care

The disparities in education, income, and employment that Bursting the Bubble documents also correlate with disparities in access to health insurance. For example, in 2012, 40 percent of those in the national capital region 25 and older without a high school diploma had no health insurance. And one in five adults with a high school diploma but no college education were uninsured. Absent public health insurance programs with broader eligibility for children, one in four children in the national capital region would have been without health coverage between 2008 and 2012.

Maryland is helping to address these disparities through by expanding Medicaid and creating the Maryland Health Connection where residents can shop for private insurance and apply for subsidies. As a result of these efforts, 343,000 Maryland residents have gained health coverage.  Now we need to decrease the wide disparities in health coverage in the national capital region. This includes robust outreach and enrollment efforts to make sure that more Maryland residents benefit from the Affordably Care Act

Finally, Maryland ought to include adult dental care in the subsidized health plans offered through the Maryland Health Connection. While health plans sold in Maryland’s exchange must include pediatric dental care and adult coverage is also available, those who purchase adult dental plans are not yet eligible for subsidies like the premium tax credits available for Qualified Health Plans purchased through the Maryland Health Connection.

Affordable Housing

Bursting the Bubble shows that too many people in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties pay too much of their income for housing. The report calls for zoning reforms to remove restrictions on building more apartments close to mass transit stops. This is important, and also raises the issue that transit and housing go hand in hand, especially when it comes to access to employment. In this regard, Maryland should continue its efforts to complete the Purple Line. It would connect more Maryland residents to jobs, especially in the national capital region. In addition, more robust housing subsidies can also ease the burden that high housing costs put on Maryland residents in the national capital region.

The problems that many Marylanders face in securing affordable housing are compounded by the ongoing foreclosure crisis. This is particularly true in Prince George’s County, where 43 percent of homeowners pay so much for housing that they don’t have enough money left for other necessities.