Thursday, September 20, 2007
Could Act 44 Be Sideswiped?
We have written several Policy Briefs about the problems with the state’s transportation funding bill of 2007, Act 44. The centerpiece of the funding, which is to place tolls on Interstate 80, is under attack from many fronts. Members of the state’s U.S. House delegation are against it, trucking companies don’t like it, the business community in northeast PA is against it, and now a state legislator plans to introduce a bill to repeal the act.
A large part of the problem has to be that this would be an instance in which the tolls would not be plowed back into the road being tolled. Instead, the tolls would provide a guarantee for bonds that would provide revenue for the state’s other highways, bridges, and mass transit. The latter category is especially despicable since we know that PAT has a long way to go toward implementing efficiencies at the agency.
With opposition mounting to the I-80 plan in the northeast along with growing opposition to the local option taxes for Allegheny County authorized under the Act, it may be back to the drawing board on transportation funding.
A large part of the problem has to be that this would be an instance in which the tolls would not be plowed back into the road being tolled. Instead, the tolls would provide a guarantee for bonds that would provide revenue for the state’s other highways, bridges, and mass transit. The latter category is especially despicable since we know that PAT has a long way to go toward implementing efficiencies at the agency.
With opposition mounting to the I-80 plan in the northeast along with growing opposition to the local option taxes for Allegheny County authorized under the Act, it may be back to the drawing board on transportation funding.
