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HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro says he is open to using money from a special transit fund that pays for capital projects to help SEPTA reverse deep service cuts and get all of Pennsylvania’s transit agencies on solid footing.
That basic idea was first broached by the Republicans who control the state Senate after a year-plus of debate. Initially, Democrats — including Shapiro — rejected it, saying the money was earmarked for critical purchases like buying new trolleys and modernizing train lines.
But on Monday, Shapiro, a Democrat, said that he was willing to transfer funding as “part of a broader package that focuses on recurring funding over a long period of time that funds mass transit in each of our 67 counties.”
Pennsylvania’s budget is now eight weeks late, leading to pain for local governments and other social service providers. The state’s structural deficit — and finding new revenue to combat it — has remained a key issue.
The Republican plan that passed the upper chamber two weeks ago would have funded transit operations in part by pulling $419 million this fiscal year and next from the Public Transportation Trust Fund (PTTF), which helps cover agencies’ longer-term capital projects like new trains or renovated stations, as well as operating costs like driver salaries and fuel.
Crucially, the GOP proposal would have also pulled another $419 million from the PTTF to fund roads and bridges, a proposal Democrats said was a particular nonstarter.
Shapiro said Monday that he would not support a deal that diverted transit dollars to roads.
Leaders in the GOP-controlled state Senate say that the size of the fund has been steadily increasing over the past decade, going from $374 million in June 2015 to $2.4 billion this year. If the fund has a surplus of money, they say, it should be used to tide over public transit agencies in dire straits.
However, state Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll said that the size of the PTTF is deceptively large. The money isn’t just surplus, he said — it’s already allocated to long-term projects.
“That creates a huge problem when it comes to the capital needs across this commonwealth, and it does not solve the operating challenges,” Carroll told the state House Appropriations Committee of the Senate GOP’s plan.
Democrats who control the state House quickly voted the GOP proposal down two weeks ago, calling it unserious and unworkable.
At the time, Shapiro appeared to feel the same way.
“While Governor Shapiro appreciates Senate Republicans finally acknowledging the need to fund mass transit systems across the Commonwealth, this is clearly not a serious, long-term proposal that can pass both chambers,” Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro, said in a statement on Aug. 12. “It’s time to get back to the table and keep working at it.”
Shapiro said his Monday comments were not an about-face. He opposed the GOP’s plan because it diverts transit funding to roads.
“I am open to using some of the [trust fund] … as a part of a broader package,” Shapiro said. “I have been, and I know the leadership understands that.”
Shapiro added that he thinks a budget deal is close, a frequent refrain in recent weeks. However, he said, “Some in this building seemingly want to play politics now just to slow this process down, and when they seek to slow the process down, to hurt me politically, all it does is hurt the good people of Pennsylvania.”
He then specifically pointed fingers at the state Senate, which he argued hadn’t been holding enough voting sessions in Harrisburg.
"It's time for [the state Senate] to get to work. It's time for them to put politics aside. It's time for them to focus on the good people in Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro, who will run for reelection next year.
A spokesperson for state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) did not respond to Shapiro’s specific comments, instead arguing that the chamber’s transit plan was responsible, that Democratic leadership should reconsider it, and that budget talks continue.
A spokesperson for state House Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both Shapiro and state House Democrats have publicly supported a plan that would send nearly $300 million more to agencies by increasing the percentage of the commonwealth’s sales and use tax revenue they get.
The state already provides these agencies with about $2 billion in direct aid.
A bill the state House advanced earlier this month would increase the portion of the tax that flows to trains, trolleys, and buses across the state by 1.75% — a $292.5 million increase. The measure would also send up to 0.25% of the tax revenue — roughly $41.8 million — into a fund for roads and bridges, in a gesture at Republicans’ priority.
This change wouldn’t directly route money away from other programs. However, it would mean the state doesn’t have as much money for other uses.
That has been a nonstarter for Republicans, who note that Pennsylvania is already running a structural deficit in which it spends more than it takes in every year.
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