Gov. Edward Rendell last week nominated William Lieberman to serve as a commissioner of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
The seat is a four-year term on the PTC’s five-member panel. Lieberman is president of Lieberman Cos., and has 40 years of management experience in insurance, benefits, and risk management.
He also is on the board of AMPCO Pittsburgh, Genco Distribution System, and Hussey Copper Ltd., and is a Senate-appointed trustee for the University of Pittsburgh.
The commission oversees the 535-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike, which runs east-west through the southern part of the state. It has nearly $6 billion of outstanding debt.
Under the state’s Act 44, the PTC makes yearly payments to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Commission bond proceeds backed by toll increases on the turnpike help finance the bulk of those payments.
To date, the PTC has made $2.2 billion of payments to PennDOT since lawmakers passed Act 44 in July 2007.
An earlier plan included the state leasing Interstate 80 to PTC. The commission would then implement tolling on I-80.
Last month, the Federal Highway Administration rejected the state’s request to place tolls on I-80.
Due to that decision, the PTC’s payments to PennDOT will drop by an estimated $472 million to $450 million in fiscal 2011, which begins July 1.
A special legislative session began last week to address the transportation funding shortfall.
Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre County, last week announced a “gateway tolling” plan to place border tolls on the state’s interstate highways, including a $1 fee for passenger vehicles and a $5 fee for commercial vehicles.
Such a plan would generate at least $300 million annually, according to Conklin. PennDOT would collect the tolls.
The department estimates that 168 million vehicles cross Pennsylvania’s borders on non-tolled interstates and bridges per year.
