House lawmakers pass mass transit funding bill

House lawmakers voted 111-91 on Tuesday to approve legislation that would increase state funding transfers for public transportation across the commonwealth as part of an effort to stave off mass transit service cuts, though the bill faces an uphill climb with so little time remaining in the legislative session.

The bill, House Bill 2625, would increase the percentage of Sales and Use Tax collections transferred to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%, which would result in an influx of hundreds of millions of dollars for mass transit in fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26. 

The funding increase would amount to a $186.5 million transfer to the fund in Fiscal Year 2024-25 and a $287.9 million transfer to the fund in Fiscal Year 2025-26.

Lawmakers from the Philadelphia area stressed the importance of delivering more funding for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and other transportation systems across the commonwealth. SEPTA is currently facing a $240 million annual budget deficit after exhausting its federal COVID-19 relief funds. 

Democratic state Rep. Ben Waxman, who represents parts of Philadelphia, warned that failing to increase state funding for public transit could drastically impact state residents. 

“We know that if we had a 30% cut in services, we would likely lose multiple regional rail lines that would have to be cut entirely, and what remains would see fewer trains and fewer stops,” he said. “It’s likely that at least two train lines would be shuttered and that several major regional rail lines would have to be shortened and have dramatically reduced service, all because of the cuts that will be because of inaction.” 

“We must reject the idea that the only way forward is a 30% reduction in services and major fare hikes,” Waxman added.

Democratic state Rep. and fellow Philadelphian Morgan Cephas added: “In some of the communities that we represent, if there is no mass transit, there is no access to opportunity,” she said. “This bill is also not just about moving people; it’s about supporting a thriving economy.”

On the other side of the aisle, the bill received pushback from Republican state Rep. Doyle Heffley, who suggested that other worthy causes could receive similar amounts of funding. 

“We have structurally deficient bridges across this commonwealth. Every member in rural Pennsylvania has roads that need fixing, bridges that need to be repaired, and yet none of these dollars – this $287 million – is going to be allocated for one reason: to go to mass transit. Now, I’m not saying that mass transit doesn’t need additional dollars, but we should look at how they’re funding themselves and why they haven’t had a rate increase in so long.”

Democratic state Rep. Joe McAndrew said that rural Pennsylvanians would benefit from the mass transit funding increase. 

“That comment that was made previously, that this doesn’t affect rural Pennsylvania, is completely false. I’ve heard across the state, from Indiana County, from Westmoreland County, from Butler County, from Lawrence County, from counties across the region – not only from their public transportation workers or their public transportation people, but directly from their constituents – that this is an issue that affects them,” McAndrew said. “If you’re from a rural county in Pennsylvania, these dollars will help you.”

Heffley countered that only a fraction of the funding increase would impact rural areas. “Some of these dollars will be sprinkled across all of Pennsylvania,” he said. “We could do better if this bill was negotiated through a budget process … but giving all the money to one particular agency isn’t going to get buses running or mass transit systems working in rural Pennsylvania.”

House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler urged a vote against the bill, saying, “I think that this bill is months late and hundreds of millions of dollars short, not to mention all the parties that were left out of it.”

The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration, though the chamber has just three session days scheduled for the remainder of the current legislative session.