Harrisburg officials are working at record speed to complete the paperwork for tolling Interstate 80. Already, the lease between the state Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has been completed and forwarded to federal officials.

It's interesting to see anything happening quickly in Pennsylvania state government, and that suggests that residents should be nervous. When it comes to reform measures to make the state legislature more open and more accountable, work advances at a snail's pace. But for other issues, things can happen overnight.

In recent years, the things that happened quickly, or without much public notice or participation, included the 2005 pay-raise package, the 50 percent pension grab for lawmakers in 2001, the legalization of slot machine gambling and the loophole allowing casinos to serve alcohol around the clock.

According to DemocracyRisingPA, there has been almost no substantive progress by the way of legislative reforms since the controversial, middle-of-the-night pay-raise vote of 2005.

In the case of tolling I-80, it's not state lawmakers but officials from PennDOT and the turnpike commission who are putting the pedal to the metal to start tolling I-80. The issue of tolling I-80 has been brought up before, but it never before has advanced as far or as quickly.

Officials from PennDOT and the turnpike commission say they are just complying with Act 44, the transportation law requiring the tolling of I-80. In addition to tolling of the 330 miles of the interstate highway, there is a plan to generate more money by floating bonds that would be repaid with higher tolls on the turnpike. The additional funding would provide more money to maintain the state's highways and bridges — and also be used to increase subsidies for public transportation.

The funding scheme, by which tolls from I-80 would be dedicated to maintaining that road, thus freeing up funds now used on the highway to pay for other transportation projects, is one of the issues raised by tolling opponents. Congressmen Phil English, R-3rd, who opposes the tolling of I-80, argues that it would hurt people and businesses along I-80, which runs through his district. English also suggests that the transfer of highway funding from I-80 to other roads and public transportation amounts to a "Ponzi scheme."

The debate is contentious, and can get bogged down in semantics.

Even if toll dollars from I-80 don't go directly to the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT) or Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the toll program does free up more money to go to those public transit agencies. Is that the same thing, as English and others suggest, as funding public transit with toll money?

While debate over tolling I-80 continues in the state, there is serious doubt that federal highway officials will approve the program, considering that the I-80 plan seeks to be the third, and final, pilot program permitted under a federal transportation act. Missouri and Virginia already have applications before federal highway officials. Those projects, which were submitted years ago, take two of the three slots, leaving the third for Pennsylvania or any of the other 47 states.

In addition to that cloud of doubt about the chances for federal approval of the I-80 plan, U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., are pushing an amendment to the federal highway bill that would prohibit tolling of interstate highways.

Even if federal approval were considered likely, there are other issues to consider. More money for roads, bridges and public transportation would be welcome. But more power for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission would not be welcome — unless major reforms are undertaken at that agency.

The turnpike commission has for decades been infamous for hiring friends and relatives of turnpike officials as well as people well-connected to leading state lawmakers. The turnpike commission also has made news for awarding no-bid contracts to consulting companies with close ties to current or former state lawmakers.

There is an obvious lack of transparency and accountability at the turnpike commission and that should only add to the reasons for concern over this rush to implement Act 44, because it will vastly expand the power of the turnpike commission, an agency known for inefficiency, nepotism and cronyism.

Based on past experience, Pennsylvanians should be nervous when anything is put on a fast track in Harrisburg. For that reason, the plan to toll I-80, and all the associated details and ramifications, deserve continued public and media attention.

— J.L.W.III