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Lawmakers line up against oil tax, fees
Source:
Cranberry Eagle
Written by:
Jared Stonesifer
Published:
September 1, 2010
HARRISBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell unveiled a plan last week that would raise $1 billion to help fund the state's depleted infrastructure and mass transit budgets, but it's a plan that won't get much support from Butler County legislators.
Pennsylvania has 5,646 structurally deficient bridges, according to the state's Department of Transportation, the most in the nation. The state also has more than 10,000 miles of roads that are in need of repairs but no money to fix them.
Under the governor's proposal, $700 million would go to fund projects to fix the state's roads and bridges while the other $300 million would help fund public transportation in places like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Rendell's plan would include an 8 percent tax on oil companies' gross profits, a tax he said could generate more than $575 million annually. He also proposed raising a number of vehicle-related fees, including the cost to renew a driver's license and vehicle registration, which would raise an additional $435 million.
Several legislators vehemently oppose Rendell's plan and agree it doesn't have much of a chance to pass.
The Legislature will reconvene in mid-September to discuss the proposal, but a special session called by Rendell for the early weeks of September has been canceled. None of the lawmakers in Butler County expect any kind of action to be taken until January, when a new governor and new Legislature take office.
State Sen. Don White, R-41st, said support for Rendell's proposal is "zero, nil, none."
White also said Rendell previously pointed out that the 41st District has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges and roads across the state.
The district includes all of Indiana County and parts of Armstrong, Butler, Clearfield and Westmoreland counties.
White knows all too well the urgency of finding money to fix the crumbling infrastructure, but he's also displeased it has taken this long to find a viable solution.
"There are school buses that travel on some of these roads in very rural areas," White said. "Do I want it on my head if one of these buses full of kids gets in a tragic accident?"
White said those school buses often travel over bridges that are more than a century old and that they travel on many roads that are resurfaced with tar and chip.
The infrastructure funding gap should be addressed by now, he said, and he's frustrated that this current proposal most likely won't go anywhere.
"Here (Rendell) is in the closing days of his term going out with this very elaborate plan, and here we sat for the last four years trying to toll Interstate 80, a proposal turned down three times by the federal government," White said. "It's all been wasted time."
Most of the legislators agree that the transportation and mass transit funding gap is something that needs to be addressed by the state's next governor, not a lame duck governor who just has several months left in office.
State Rep. Dick Stevenson, R-8th, said he's not sure why Rendell waited until the end of his eight-year term as governor to propose such a plan. The political ramifications of raising taxes and fees, he said, will fall on the state representatives and senators while Rendell will be out of office in January.
He's also concerned that the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by such a plan would be spent primarily in eastern Pennsylvania, where Rendell spent his political career before ascending to governor.
"I wonder why he's waited until the eleventh hour to propose all these ideas," Stevenson said. "It makes me dubious and suspicious about it.
"On the other hand, most people, certainly those of us in Western Pennsylvania, don't trust him in terms of how to use the money, and we think much of it could be sent to the Philadelphia area."
Stevenson also said he thinks the infrastructure and mass transit plan is "something to be discussed with the new governor."
But Rendell has urged lawmakers to pass his plan because the next governor might be opposed to new taxes.
That's just the problem with Rendell's plan, said state Sen. Jane Orie, R-40th.
She argued Rendell has "nothing to lose by pushing taxes" because he won't be in office long enough to suffer the consequences of people's discontent.
"At least in my district, the last thing people want is to raise taxes," she said. "I don't know how (Rendell) doesn't hear that because I think it resonates loud and clear. The reality is that Gov. Rendell has a few more months as governor, and this issue is for the new governor, and it's about time Pennsylvania has someone who puts taxpayers first."
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