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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Johnna A. Pro
Barbara Fellencer Phone: 717-772-3353 Email: bfellenc@pahouse.net |
State Rep. Dwight Evans |
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DWIGHT EVANS LEADS HOUSE EFFORT TO CREATE NEW FUNDING
FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT, ROADS AND BRIDGES
Legislation passes House and heads to Senate
HARRISBURG (June 27) – Members of the state House of Representatives today approved legislation 105-to-96 that will allow the commonwealth to pump million of dollars into road and bridge projects statewide and stem the financial bleeding at public transit agencies, including SEPTA.
State Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Phila., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, who pledged to hold up the budget process if fellow legislators didn’t address the crisis in transportation, said the language sponsored by Rep. Keith McCall, D-Carbon, is the first step to finding a steady stream of funding for roads, bridges and mass transit. “The fight for transportation funding is not over,” Evans said. “The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration and we expect to be driving the train just as hard to ensure passage there.
“This legislation (HB 1590) will drive funding out across Pennsylvania in the new budget year and I’m more than pleased about that,” said Evans whose “No transit, no budget,” position became a rallying cry for Democrats in the State House. “I had hoped we could drive the numbers higher and I’m confident we can do that before this budget season ends.”
The Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission released a report in November that said the state needed to raise $1.7 billion annually to keep public transportation systems running, roads from crumbling and bridges from collapsing.
Under McCall’s plan, the state will generate $700 million in new money from increased tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and turn Interstate 80 into a toll road. Of that amount, $450 million will be funneled to road and bridge projects at the state and local level.
The remaining $250 million will be channeled to the newly created Public Transit Fund. Four existing funds that provide money to transit agencies also will channel money to the new fund. The Public Transportation Fund will then provide money to transit agencies for operating costs, capital expenditures and other programs.
“This is a jobs bill,” Evans said, noting that Pennsylvanians throughout the state will benefit from work generated by projects funded as a result of the legislation. “From union contractors who fix our bridges to the folks who run coffee stands on the transit systems, everyone will benefit.”
McCall’s plan also increases the local match for transit from an average of 13 percent statewide to 20 percent, but in doing so, it give counties and municipalities new options for raising the money including: a sales, use and hotel occupancy tax of either 0.25% or 0.5%; a room rental tax of up to one percent of the hotel room rental; a local earned income tax of 0.25% or 0.5%; or a car rental tax of up to $2 per day. In addition, counties would be allowed to increase their local match by five percent each year rather than being forced to meeting the increase in their match immediately.
In fiscal year 2007/08, SEPTA would see its state funding increased from $418.4 million to $520 million. Its local match would be $78.6 million, up from $74.8 million.
The plan also reconfigures the SEPTA board by giving the five member counties representation based on their percentage of the local share. Bucks and Chester counties each would have two members; Delaware and Montgomery would have three members; and Philadelphia would get four members. In addition, the Governor and each branch of the legislature would have one appointment. The budget and transportation secretaries would be on the board as non-voting members.