Hold Me!
by Steve Mastro
Why is the solution to EVERY problem involve a tax increase. Why, why, why. Has anyone thought of any other solution?
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A new try to rescue SEPTA
Raising auto-related fees may be a tough rural sell.
Inquirer Staff Writers
HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell joined a bipartisan band of lawmakers yesterday to pitch a plan to produce $110 million in stopgap aid for SEPTA and other transit agencies threatening deep cuts.
The proposal, to be funded by increases in several motor-vehicle fees, was the first to come from Harrisburg since SEPTA warned more than a month ago that it would be forced to end weekend service and lay off 1,400 workers to help fill a $62 million budget gap.
Under the plan presented yesterday, the agency would receive enough to bridge that deficit, said Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who is spearheading the funding effort.
But hours later, SEPTA officials said their own examination of the plan showed they would receive only $36 million from the new revenue. They said they would stand back and see how the proposal evolved in Harrisburg.
For their part, Republican leaders who control the House and the Senate said they saw little likelihood that the measure would pass and that there might not be enough time in the waning days of the legislative session to act on it.
During the last year, transit officials across the state have lobbied for a total of $282 million in relief for dozens of agencies to avert cuts and fare increase. Pittsburgh's transit authority is seeking $30 million of that.
"We are going to work hard to get this done before we leave Harrisburg," Rendell said at a news conference to announce the plan. "It is a statewide issue."
The new money would come from fees that would be increased for drivers' records, emission-inspection stickers and motor-vehicle rentals. A surcharge would be added to purchases of new tires.
SEPTA board chairman Pasquale T. "Pat" Deon also attended the announcement and said he endorsed the plan.
In an interview last night, he said he was aware that SEPTA's own analysis produced a smaller amount of aid. "We are at the bottom here; we will take the help we can get," he said. Depending on the outcome of funding, he said, SEPTA would adjust any budget cuts accordingly.
But many rural legislators will not vote to raise fees and taxes for transit, according to House Speaker John M. Perzel (R., Phila.). Without an accompanying increase in the state tax on gasoline to fund road needs, Perzel said, he would be hard-pressed to get House votes for transit.
"I am not against SEPTA," Perzel said. "I don't know how to do this in the way it has been presented. I cannot ask legislators to vote to tax people for nothing in return."
Perzel said he planned talks with the governor late yesterday, particularly concerning a possible gasoline tax.
A 12-cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax has long been sought by road lobbyists as a way to pay for needed improvements to bridges and highways.
Spokesmen for other GOP leaders in the House and Senate remained skeptical. "I don't see this happening. There is not enough time," said Stephen Miskin, spokesman for House Majority Leader Samuel H. Smith (R., Jefferson). The legislature's two-year term ends Nov. 30, but lawmakers believe they can wrap up their business possibly as early as the end of this week.
Rep. John Taylor (R., Phila.) said: "It seems like we are short of time, but in this legislature, if there is a will there is a way."
"I don't have any reason to believe that a fee increase will be warmly received in the Senate," said Erik Arneson, chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill (R., Lebanon).
Passing statewide fees for transit without perceived benefit for many rural areas will be difficult, said Rep. Richard A. Geist (R., Blair), the chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "Everybody has to have something to take home on a vote like this," Geist said. "Nobody wants to put up votes for any fee increase for a Band-Aid. The governor is going to have to go hunting for votes."
Existing fees in yesterday's proposal have not risen since the early 1980s, Rendell said. They include a hike in the motor vehicle rental fee from $2 to $4 and a $1 to $3 surcharge for the purchase of new tires. Evans proposed raising the $5 fee for a driver's record to $12 and a new $2 fee for the auto-emissions sticker.
The prospect of ending the second year of the statewide transit funding crisis with stopgap funding made some transit supporters wince yesterday.
Stephen Donahue is a former Franciscan Brother and cofounder of Save Our Transit, a riders' coalition battling to save weekend service in Pittsburgh. For months, Donahue has rallied riders to protest threatened cuts and a fare hike to plug a $30 million gap at the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
The public has already grown immune to his appeals, he said.
"I hand them a flyer, and riders look at me like I'm running some kind of a scam." Donahue said. "Each year this gets drawn out, it gets tougher to get public support."