On my first day as a Montgomery County Council member, I took two buses to get from my house in Silver Spring to the Stella B. Werner Council Office Building in Rockville. The total time was 80 minutes. The total cost was $2. That might not seem like much, but it adds up. That’s $4 a day, $20 a week, $80 a month, $960 a year — just counting weekdays.

Applicants for Montgomery County government jobs will no longer face questions about their past earnings, if new legislation passed unanimously by the county council becomes law.

Tuesday morning, all nine council members approved a bill introduced by Council member Evan Glass called the “Pay Equity” act. The bill has received an endorsement from Democratic County Executive Marc Elrich, who is expected to sign it.