Evening star., 1959-12-20

| WOulQ SET up q LlIneCdDle 1Or
putting successive parts of the
system into operation.
Building Costs Increasing
Clearly, this planning job
would be first priority of the
corporation. Mr.. Gingery COM
mented. But he added that the
corporation should start as soon
as possible acquiring rights-of-
way because land and building
costs are jumping by the mil
lions each year.
The corporation would be
financed by Federal loans. This
is in line with testimony of
Deputy Budget Bureau Director
Elmer B. Stats at the Senate
House hearings that initial
Federal financing Of the cor
poration will be necessary"
How the loans will be repaid
is not so clear in the draft.
Jerome P. Alper, retained by
the Planning Commission and
Council as legislative consul
tant. said loans would pay for
planning transportation. pri-
marily. A little may be used
for acquisition Of land.
Repayment Plan Later
At the time the development
program Is approved by the
Governors, and not before,
means Of repaying loans will be
explored. The only foreseeable
means are receipts from opera
tions Of the corporation, re-
turns from bond issues, or Fed
eral appropriations. Such mon
les would be forthcoming only
after the corporation started
to carry out its development
program.
The Budget Bureau left blank
the dollar amount that could be
borrowed by the corporation at
any one time. The procedures
for borrowing. however, would
be the same as those applying
to other government corpora
tions.
Under the Corporation Con-
troll Act, the corporation would
prepare a budget annually and
submit it to the President
through the Budget Bureau. The
budget would include esti-
mates Of expenses, borrowing
deficits and any surplus.
Other provisions Of the draft
and questions raised by area
officials about them are:
/. A single administrator
with a salary of $4,000 an
nually. would make corpora
ton decisions, assisted by q
ffve-member advisory board
also appointed by the Presi-
dent. Would the bill create q
transportation czar?
2. The corporation could
establish advisory and CO.
ordinating committees com.
posed Of representatives Of
Federal. State and local Gov
ernments and private organ
izations. What power could
such a purely advisory group
have on the administrator?
Civil Service Protection
3. Civil Service projections
are offered employees Of the
corporation. Should private
labor projections be offered
private employees whose COM
panies could be bought, con-
demned or operated by the
corporation?
These questions, particularly
the last one, are premature at
this point, area officials ex-
planning the draft said. The
corporation. if created, would
be limited by the loans avail
able to drafting a development
program, they said. Mr.. Alper
said it was inconceivable that
the corporation could either
operate or lease transportation
facilities until the development
program was completed. Upon
its completion, the program it.
self will call for a reasseSsment
Of corporation functions and
amendment Of the law, he in
dicated.
The draft also provides for
what planners call the third
phase" of the mass transporta-
tion program-establishment Of
an agreement between Mary
land, Virginia and the District
to set up an actual operating
agency for transportation.