Task force unveils transportation funding proposals
A PA House Republican task force whose mission was to address transportation funding needs has finished its assignment and presented its report.
The task force, chaired by Rep. Martina White of Philadelphia, made several recommendations, beginning with lessening or halting revenue diversions from the Motor License Fund, the constitutionally protected repository for fuel taxes and license and registration fees.
As we have noted many times, $9 billion has been diverted from that fund since 2002. Nearly half of that diversion has occurred since 2012-13, including more than $700 million in this fiscal year.
Pennsylvania’s tax rate is approximately 58 cents per gallon – now second-highest in the country – and more than a quarter of that is diverted for things other than highway construction. The task force recommended that the planned rollback of diversions be accelerated from the current 4 percent annually to 8 percent.
The task force also recommended expanding public-private partnership opportunities, streamlining permitting processes, changing the way large highway projects are bid out, giving local governments the ability to impose additional fees and creating county infrastructure banks.
While the task force’s recommendations could help in the short term – say, three to five years – we have yet to establish a long-term vision for how the ideal a transportation infrastructure could evolve beyond that.
For transportation advocates, the 43-page report is worth a read. You’ll find it at this link.
