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Plan would provide $2.75 billion over 10 years for road and bridge repairs
Reps. Keith McCall (D-Carbon) and David G. Argall (R-Berks/Schuylkill announced new legislation that would provide $2.75 billion over the next 10 years and $500 million each year after to pay for road and bridge repairs across Pennsylvania. Their legislation would include no new taxes and no new tolls on Pennsylvania highways.
The lawmakers’ plan would phase-out over a period of 10 years the practice of providing funding for the state police out of the Motor License Fund. Currently, the state uses nearly $500 million from the Motor License Fund to pay for state police services. Under the lawmakers’ plan, this money would go toward road and bridge repairs and the state police funding would be supplied through the state’s general operating budget.
“This plan would provide for road and bridge repairs without placing a new burden on Pennsylvania taxpayers,” said McCall, the House Democrat Whip.
“This is the only plan I’ve seen offered that can fix our roads and bridges without the need for new taxes or new tolls,” said Argall, the House Republican Whip.
Under the lawmakers’ plan, the state would reduce each year the amount appropriated for the state police out of the Motor License Fund by $50 million. At the end of 10 years, the entire $500 million from the Motor License Fund that currently pays for state police would be used to fix roads and bridges. The state police funding would not be cut, but would be filled with dollars from the state’s General Fund budget.
The gradual nature of the shift was developed in an effort to ensure there is no new burden on taxpayers. Each year, $50 million from the Motor License Fund would be shifted from the state police to road and bridge repairs. The state police would lose $50 million in funding from the Motor License Fund, but would gain $50 million in funding from the General Fund, resulting in no net impact to their budget. The $50 million for the state police out of the General Fund would come from standard revenue growth that results from economic growth.
“By phasing our plan in over 10 years, we can ensure our roads and bridges are fixed and our state police are properly funded,” McCall said.
In 2006, the Transportation Funding and Reform Commission reported that 23 percent of the 25,313 bridges on the state-maintained system are structurally deficient and Pennsylvania’s state-owned bridges are, on average, 50 years old.
In 2005, a bridge partially collapsed in western Pennsylvania on Interstate 70. Part of the Lakeview Drive Bridge in South Starbane Township, Washington County, fell on I-70. The bridge had been labeled “structurally deficient” by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
On Aug. 1, a bridge in Minneapolis, Minn., collapsed into the Mississippi river killing several motorists. The bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis was structurally deficient and 40 years old.
According to information available on PennDOT’s Web site, there are 140 bridges in Berks, Carbon and Schuylkill counties that have been weight-restricted or closed. This number includes bridges on state routes as well as those on locally owned roads. Bridges that are weight restricted have signs posting the weight limit of vehicles allowed on the bridge.
In Berks County, 11 bridges have been closed and 74 have been weight restricted. In Carbon County, one bridge has been closed and 14 have been weight restricted. And, in Schuylkill County, eight bridges have been closed and 32 have been weight restricted.
“This proposal is neither Republican nor Democrat, because the roads and bridges that need repair are throughout our Commonwealth,” Argall said. “This is a bipartisan approach to a problem that will require cooperation to solve.”
Please contact your state representative and tell them: The Time has come to Fund the State Police Budget using the General Fund. Please co-sponsor the McCall –Argall State Police – Highway Funding Bill.
Click Here to take action now.
 
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