House passes Shapiro’s $292M transit funding bill

(The Center Square) – It was an unusual day in the Pennsylvania House, but that didn’t stop leadership from shepherding a mass transit bill forward to the Senate.

Neither the electronic system used to tabulate legislators’ votes nor member laptops were working, causing House Speaker Rep. Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, to act according to a precedent established in 1975, in which opponents of the bill stood and were counted.

The bill, proposed by Transportation chair Rep. Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, would enact Gov. Josh Shapiro’s plan to support mass transit in all 67 counties by increasing the percentage of sales tax revenue allocated to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4 percent to 6.15 percent. This would result in an increase of $292.5 million in funding next year and $1.5 billion over the next five years.

Legislators forewent speaking for and against the bill in the House, due to the delays caused by technical issues. Instead, they submitted their comments to the record in writing. Neilson spoke about the win in a press release shortly thereafter.

“Throughout Pennsylvania, including cities, suburbs and rural areas, more than one million people use public transportation every day. This is the most significant transit funding increase in over a decade, and no one will see an increase in their taxes,” said Neilson. “With an additional $500 million in funding to repair roads and bridges, this comprehensive bill will bolster Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure in a way that benefits us all.”

The bill passed 107-96, with some small deviations from party lines, including no votes from Democrats Rep. Frank Burns of Johnstown and Rep. Tarah Probst of Stroudsburg. It found Republican support in a handful of Republican representatives including several whose districts fall into the SEPTA service area.

“This will help transit agencies avoid the worst-case scenarios of major service cuts and fare increases, allow roughly 39,000 people employed by public transit agencies to remain gainfully employed and continue moving hundreds of thousands of workers to and from their jobs,” Neilson said.

SEPTA, however, isn’t the only system that would benefit from the change. While Allegheny County boasts the next largest system with Pittsburgh Regional Transit, each of the state’s 67 counties employs some type of public transit system. In less populated regions, these resources are sometimes shared.

Republicans have emphasized the need to create solutions for the state’s massive network of roads and bridges, much of which is in need of repair. Those who support more funding say that it will also benefit rural regions, just as the major economic contributions of the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia regions benefit the commonwealth at large.

Christina Lengyel is a Pennsylvania reporter for The Center Square. She is based in Harrisburg.

This article was republished with permission from The Center Square.