PA House passes public transit funding bill after Gov. Shapiro's latest call to action

The morning after Gov. Josh Shapiro once again hammered home the importance of public transit and the need to increase its funding in the state budget, the Democrat-led House passed a fifth version of transit funding that includes performance accountability criteria for transit systems like SEPTA. 

The House passed HB 1788 Monday morning by a vote of 108-95, with four Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill. The legislation seeks to fund transit systems and road and bridge projects in all 67 counties. It would also help SEPTA avoid service cuts while setting requirements for safety, efficiency and accountability in public transit.

On Sunday, with union leaders and local lawmakers standing beside him at SEPTA’s Center City headquarters, Shapiro stressed the need for the Republican-controlled state Senate to pass a funding package to help transit agencies across the state stave off cuts and fare increases. 

“We are past the point of short-term stopgap measures. We are past the point of a few months of fixes,” Shapiro said Sunday, referencing his previous efforts to flex highway funds to keep the system running. “It is time to have recurring long-term revenue for SEPTA.”

As made clear at a Wednesday rally outside Philadelphia City Hall, if SEPTA, which faces a structural deficit of $213 million, doesn’t get the funding it needs by Aug. 14, it will not be able to reverse previously announced schedule reductions and fare increases. 

SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said that without new funding, the system will face a 20% service reduction on Aug. 24 – one day before students return to classes in the School District of Philadelphia – and a 45% reduction overall for the fiscal year. 

On Sept. 1, fares would go up by 21.5% systemwide and Regional Rail lines would begin to see service cuts.

“For tens of thousands of riders, SEPTA will no longer be a viable option (should funding not come to pass), and many who can afford to drive will do so, adding to the congestion that’s on our roadways already. Everyone will feel this,” Sauer said. “I want to be clear: We do not want to make these devastating changes.”

Autumn Fingerhood, a hospitality worker and member of Unite Here local 274, said her family, coworkers and community members rely on transit services every day. 

The Northeast Philadelphia resident called out Republican state Sen. Joe Picozzi, who represents her neighborhood, saying he and other GOP Senators must show up to stand up for mass transit. 

“Joe claims he has been working to deliver crucial funding for SEPTA, yet here we are with no funding, and here we are with no Joe,” Fingerhood said. “I rely on SEPTA, and for me, SEPTA has been very reliable. I cannot be late for work or leave work, which lately seems to be what the Republicans have been doing.”

House lawmakers voted 107-96 on June 17 to approve legislation from Democratic state Rep. Ed Neilson that would increase the percentage of sales tax revenue allocated to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%, which would result in an additional $292.5 million transferred to the fund. The bill mirrors Shapiro’s mass transit funding pitch, but has yet to be put up for a vote in the Senate Transportation Committee. 

“I presented my state budget to fully fund mass transit along with roads and bridges 187 days ago, and in that time, the Senate of Pennsylvania has been in session for a mere 25 days,” Shapiro said. “The time to act is now.”

State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman and most of his GOP colleagues have resisted giving more to SEPTA, saying the transit authority must have better fiscal management and be held accountable for issues like fare evasion and public safety.

House Democrats looked to address those concerns with the updated legislation, which would establish performance accountability criteria that include improvements in fare evasion metrics. The bill would provide $600 million to mass transit and roads and bridges along with the accountability portion of the proposal that was originally put forth by Picozzi. 

The House Transportation Committee voted to advance House Bill 1788, introduced by Northeast Philadelphia Democrat Sean Dougherty, by a 16-10 vote on Wednesday with the support of every Democrat and two Bucks County Republicans.

And on Sunday, after House Democrats indicated they would bring the bill up for a vote on second consideration and set up a Monday vote for third and final consideration, legislators re-committed the bill to the House Appropriations Committee – setting up the vote for Monday. 

Senate Republicans “talked about fare evasion, they talked about some, some opportunities for SEPTA to make money in marketing space and things of that nature,” House Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris told reporters Sunday. “We included all of that. Bottom line for us is that we’re listening, we remain nimble with our one-seat majority – and we’re including all of that in the bill.”

State Senate Pro Tempore Kim Ward, who has floated a six-month budget to continue spending at current levels while the issue is worked out, has also suggested reallocating some $2.3 billion in the Public Transportation Trust Fund.

Sauer, stating that the fund is used for transit operating expenses and capital projects already in progress, referred to the suggestion as a move that would “rob from one pot to give to the other.”

State House Majority Leader Matt Bradford addressed the concept Sunday before the House ended session, stating that those dollars are “not currently available” and it would “in no way stop what is the inevitable closure of the SEPTA transit system beginning on Thursday.” 

In response, House Minority Leader Jesse Topper, a Republican representing Bedford and Fulton counties, argued the House legislation would essentially be dead on arrival in the state Senate. 

Topper called on Shapiro and legislative leaders to come together to produce a fiscally responsible budget and that “the passage of this bill does not help one single, solitary soul.”While Democrats and Dougherty celebrated the passage as a move to bring funding and transparency to public transit, state Rep. Tim O’Neal called the move “just another act of political theater” focused on one city. 

“Amid a month-long budget impasse, Democrats moved to take hundreds of millions more in state money and send it to save Philadelphia’s failing public transit system,” O’Neal, a Republican from Washington County, said in a statement. “As legislators, we should be focused on negotiating a budget that will responsibly and fully fund the critical state services across all of Pennsylvania.”