MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — A Virginia state senator is withdrawing her budget amendment that could have cost the D.C. region’s Metro system more than $165 million if it didn’t add the name of Capital One bank to a Northern Virginia Metrorail station.
Capital One wants the McLean station near its corporate headquarters to be renamed McLean-Capital One Hall to recognize a 1,600-seat theater it’s building on the campus.
Capital One offered to pay $320,000 in costs associated with the name change, but the cash-strapped Metro agency has indicated it wants more money than that to sell or lease the naming rights.
The Washington Post reports that Sen. Janet Howell, D-McLean, chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, inserted budget language to withhold funding from Metro if it doesn’t agree to the change. She said the bank is being unfairly “squeezed for money.” Capital One’s headquarters are located in Howell’s district.
On Wednesday, though, Howell told the Post she merely wanted to get Metro’s attention and she’s withdrawing the amendment after Metro said it would add signage at the station directing people to the hall.
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