Pennsylvania's House of Representatives was scheduled to debate on Thursday a $2.4 billion transportation bill that Senate counterparts approved a day earlier.
The bill, which failed to clear the General Assembly in June and seemed to have stalled again in Harrisburg last week, largely calls for increases in gasoline taxes as well as drivers' penalties and fees.
The $2.4 billion represents a 40% increase in transportation funding. Under the bill, $1.8 billion would pay to fix roads and bridges, $500 million would fund mass transit projects and $144 million would be earmarked for a so-called multimodal fund.
Thursday's House session was for final concurrence on the Senate version, which passed 43-7 on Wednesday. Tuesday's House vote was 104-95.
The bill has been a major initiative of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Other Corbett initiatives that have stalled this year included privatizing state-run liquor stores and lottery system, and overhauling the pension system for state employees.
Fitch Ratings cited the latter in July when it lowered the state's general obligation bond rating to AA from AA-plus with a negative outlook. Standard & Poor's also rates the bonds AA while Moody's Investors Service assigns an equivalent Aa2 rating. S&P assigns a negative outlook while Moody's assigns stable.
Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch imposed weight limits on many Pennsylvania bridges over the summer. Some trucking companies have said detour routes have cost millions.
Some Democrats say transportation funding should include a severance tax on companies that drill for natural gas in Marcellus Shale regions. Pennsylvania instead has an "impact fee." Democrats also opposed provisions to the bill that weaken the prevailing-wage law for workers on government-funded projects.
According to Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, who is running for governor next year as a Democrat, the mad scramble to pass a transportation bill reflects dysfunction in Harrisburg.
"As part of my bus tour in Mercer County, I ran into two young guys that are working for Shell in West Virginia. They said that what worries Shell is not the [severance] tax, but not knowing what the rules of the game are in Pennsylvania. That's embarrassing," Pawlowski said in a City Hall interview this week.
According to Pawlowski, a 4% severance tax in Pennsylvania — the effective rate in West Virginia, according to the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center — could bring the state $1.2 billion in annual revenue by 2015. "That could help pay for education and transportation," he said.
