Transportation Funding in PA:
More Questions Than Answers
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
When state lawmakers return to Harrisburg next week, one of the issues they'll be tackling is transportation funding.
So far, three plans are on the table – Act 44, or tolling Interstate 80; leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike; and Senator Joe Scarnati's recently announced plan that does not include the tolls or the lease.
State Representative Marty Causer says transportation is one of the major issues the Legislature will be dealing with, along with the state budget and energy issues.
He says there's "very little support" in the Legislature for the tolling of Interstate 80, which he voted against.
As for leasing the turnpike, Causer says there are a lot of unanswered questions and the lease proposal is "something that we have to take a closer look at."
Last week, Governor Ed Rendell announced that a consortium led by CitiGroup and Spanish company Abertis Infraestructuras submitted the high bid of $12.8 billion to lease the turnpike for 75 years.
Causer says the bidding process was "all done behind closed doors."
The Legislature would have to approved the lease, he says, but they were not involved in collecting bids.
"We should have been at the table and should have been able to scrutinize the lease (proposals) coming in," he says.
Causer as that although the proposal raises "serious questions that need to be answered," it's "worthy of taking a look at."
Causer says he hasn't had a chance to look at the details of Scarnati's plan yet, but he finds some of the proposals interesting and supports the elements of it.
One element of Scarnati's plan is funding the state police through the general fund instead of using highway revenue.
"I don't think many people in the state realize we fund the state police through highway revenue – motor license funds – amounts to about 500 million dollars," Causer says.
"If we could free up highway funds, by funding state police out of the general fund, that would provide much-need highway funds for highway projects," he says. "Obviously, there would be a hole in the general fund budget, so we'd have to come up with that. But, at the same time, that's definitely the right way to go, I think."
Causer also talked about the part of Scarnati's plan that deals with making the Turnpike Commission more efficient.
"We have major problems with turnpike commission and it's an agency that needs to be scrutinized even more, and maybe even eliminated and put that department back into PennDOT," Causer says.
"We need to dive in there and take a close look at (the turnpike commission)," Causer says. "That agency needs some major, major changes."
He adds that the elements of Scarnati's plan are "all very worthy," but there "a lot of questions that still need to be answered with that plan, as well as the turnpike lease plan.
Transportation "is a major issue, and we need additional highway funds in this state," Causer says. "But we need to move forward with a good plan, and certainly the I-80 tolling plan was not a good plan."
WESB/WBRR News Director
When state lawmakers return to Harrisburg next week, one of the issues they'll be tackling is transportation funding.
So far, three plans are on the table – Act 44, or tolling Interstate 80; leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike; and Senator Joe Scarnati's recently announced plan that does not include the tolls or the lease.
State Representative Marty Causer says transportation is one of the major issues the Legislature will be dealing with, along with the state budget and energy issues.
He says there's "very little support" in the Legislature for the tolling of Interstate 80, which he voted against.
As for leasing the turnpike, Causer says there are a lot of unanswered questions and the lease proposal is "something that we have to take a closer look at."
Last week, Governor Ed Rendell announced that a consortium led by CitiGroup and Spanish company Abertis Infraestructuras submitted the high bid of $12.8 billion to lease the turnpike for 75 years.
Causer says the bidding process was "all done behind closed doors."
The Legislature would have to approved the lease, he says, but they were not involved in collecting bids.
"We should have been at the table and should have been able to scrutinize the lease (proposals) coming in," he says.
Causer as that although the proposal raises "serious questions that need to be answered," it's "worthy of taking a look at."
Causer says he hasn't had a chance to look at the details of Scarnati's plan yet, but he finds some of the proposals interesting and supports the elements of it.
One element of Scarnati's plan is funding the state police through the general fund instead of using highway revenue.
"I don't think many people in the state realize we fund the state police through highway revenue – motor license funds – amounts to about 500 million dollars," Causer says.
"If we could free up highway funds, by funding state police out of the general fund, that would provide much-need highway funds for highway projects," he says. "Obviously, there would be a hole in the general fund budget, so we'd have to come up with that. But, at the same time, that's definitely the right way to go, I think."
Causer also talked about the part of Scarnati's plan that deals with making the Turnpike Commission more efficient.
"We have major problems with turnpike commission and it's an agency that needs to be scrutinized even more, and maybe even eliminated and put that department back into PennDOT," Causer says.
"We need to dive in there and take a close look at (the turnpike commission)," Causer says. "That agency needs some major, major changes."
He adds that the elements of Scarnati's plan are "all very worthy," but there "a lot of questions that still need to be answered with that plan, as well as the turnpike lease plan.
Transportation "is a major issue, and we need additional highway funds in this state," Causer says. "But we need to move forward with a good plan, and certainly the I-80 tolling plan was not a good plan."
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