(The following story by Jere Downs and Carrie Budoff appeared on the Philadelphia Inquirer website on January 5.)
PHILADELPHIA — House Speaker John M. Perzel yesterday pledged to rescue SEPTA riders from the threat of fare hikes and service cuts but rejected as inadequate a $110 million statewide transit bailout plan endorsed by Gov. Rendell.
“We will come up with our own ideas if the governor does not,” the Philadelphia Republican said in an interview. “We will not let it fail.”
Perzel declined to say whether a mass-transit aid package would spur further increases in the gasoline tax. The legislature has historically raised gas taxes for road improvements as an incentive to persuade rural legislators to provide more transit aid.
In Harrisburg for the swearing-in ceremonies to mark the beginning of a new legislative session, Perzel and other Republican leaders repeated calls yesterday for a transit relief package that also rebuilds the state’s roads and bridges.
“That is the way it has always been done, and this is my 27th year here,” Perzel said.
Mass-transit agencies such as SEPTA and the Port Authority of Allegheny County need a total of at least $220 million in additional state funding each year to survive, Perzel said. The proposal by Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.), endorsed by Rendell, would provide far less than is needed in the current fiscal year. Worse, he added, Evans’ plan to save transit by raising motor vehicle fees offers nothing to attract rural legislators’ votes.
“Maybe there is support for it. I haven’t counted the votes,” Perzel said. “The dilemma he has is he is not going to do anything for rural legislators… . I haven’t seen anything that works from him.”
Evans reintroduced his $110 million bill yesterday. Evans will meet with other legislative leaders and Rendell on Tuesday in preparation for a special legislative session called by Rendell for Jan. 18.
When asked whether Rendell would propose an alternative, his spokeswoman Kate Philips said the governor continues to back Evans’ plan. The gas tax “is not something that we can consider at this point,” she said.
How would Rendell lure the Republican vote?
“We think the story of mass transit is compelling enough on its own to encourage legislators to act,” she said. “But we are certainly willing to look at proposals from other legislators.”
Amid speculation yesterday among lawmakers that mass-transit relief could be derived from increases in the personal income tax, the sales tax, the gas tax, or the real estate transfer tax, Evans noted that his bill is the sole concrete plan and there remain only a handful of legislative days between now and Feb. 27, when SEPTA’s scheduled fare hikes and service cuts are to take effect.
“No more excuses. I have stood up. I got something. The governor is behind it,” Evans said.
The bill increases the fee for a motor vehicle title from $22.50 to $31, the inspection certificate fee from $2 to $3, the surcharge on new tire purchases from $1 to $3, and the fee charged mostly to insurance companies for drivers’ records from $5 to $12.
“If they don’t like what it is, they got to give us something,” Evans added. “There is no more time for game-playing.”
Just before Christmas, Rendell granted transit riders a reprieve from staggering fare increases and service cuts, offering SEPTA $13 million in stopgap aid, largely by diverting federal highway grants to transit.
SEPTA’s board responded last week, delaying from Jan. 23 to Feb. 27 an increase in the cash fare from $2 to $2.50 and elimination of 20 percent of service.
But skepticism toward Rendell remained high in the offices of Majority Leader Samuel Smith (R., Armstrong) and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer (R., Blair).
“Unless he has a comprehensive plan, there is no point to it,” Steve Miskin, a spokesman for Smith, said of Rendell’s special session. “We will gavel in and gavel out. The Evans plan is a temporary solution. He is having a special session to come up with a temporary solution? It is laughable. He clearly has no vision for Pennsylvania.”
Jubelirer said Rendell must first offer his own solution. “It is time for the governor to step up and say, ‘Here is my plan.’ ”
Many lawmakers noted that gas prices have dropped below $2 per gallon in recent weeks, but they expressed concern that prices might not be low enough for drivers to stomach more taxes.
“He will have a difficult time getting votes for what he wants without including the full package of all transportation, not just mass transportation,” Jubelirer said. “I don’t want to be voting for taxes, that’s for sure, for mass transit or anything else. How do you say to a rural legislator who lives in a rural county, ‘Vote for these taxes for mass transit that will not help your constituents at all’?”
Rep. Steven R. Nickol (R., York) said he favors a permanent solution for mass transit, but his constituents, who are far less reliant on public transportation, must benefit.
“Their priority is roads, the maintenance of roads and the construction projects that seem to be slipping,” Nickol said. His district, which covers parts of Adams and York Counties, has experienced significant growth, stressing the road system.
A gaggle of transit riders who depend on Pittsburgh’s Port Authority of Allegheny County stalked the halls of the legislature, seeking out lawmakers who they hope will avert a 15 percent cut in service and a rise in the cash fare from $1.75 to $2 now scheduled to take effect March 1.
Rendell obtained extra time for Pittsburgh riders with $4 million, also from stopgap federal highway aid.
“We weep for our transit,” read the orange sign on Stephen Donahue’s chest.
“I am not optimistic,” said Donahue, one of 15 members of Pittsburgh’s Save Transit Coalition visiting Harrisburg. “I think Republicans are not committed to a special session. I do not sense any commitment to a permanent fix.”