Dear Friends,
Last week, I stood with my colleagues to draw attention to the urgent need to fund public transportation in the commonwealth. My Democratic colleagues and I have been sounding the alarm for months about the imperative need to allocate funding to prevent the type of cuts that will destroy the commonwealths mass transit system, yet the Republican controlled senate continues to fail to deliver on this issue. Time has run out.
You can see the remarks of our Montgomery County representatives and senators here.
This week, the House returned for rare Sunday and Monday sessions—marking the fifth time in the past 12 months we've passed critical legislation to fund public transportation. House Bill 1788 passed with bipartisan support and even included concessions requested by Republican senators in hopes of encouraging the Senate to act. Despite these efforts, the Senate once again failed to deliver and failed to govern.
House Bill 1788 introduces a wide-ranging set of transportation reforms aimed at addressing Pennsylvania’s growing public transit crisis and infrastructure challenges. The bill increases the portion of state sales tax revenue directed to the Public Transportation Trust Fund (PTTF) from 4.4% to 6.15%, generating an estimated $292 million annually in new transit funding—most of which would support SEPTA. In addition to boosting transit funding, the bill authorizes $325 million in borrowing through the Commonwealth Financing Authority for highway, road, and bridge projects, along with an extra $275 million targeted for rural road improvements.
To ensure greater accountability, HB 1788 includes performance reporting and oversight measures for major transit agencies like SEPTA and Pittsburgh Regional Transit. It also updates several sections of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to create new funding mechanisms—such as the Road and Bridge Project Fund and a new Sinking Fund—while expanding public-private partnership opportunities, modernizing rules around traffic signaling and vehicle lighting, and establishing new accounts for state route construction.
On Tuesday evening, the Senate amended a separate bill, House Bill 257, with what they claim is a solution—but it falls far short. While the amendment includes $43 million in recurring revenue from iGaming, that is the only new funding in the entire proposal. It fails to address the actual needs of transit agencies. Even worse, it raids $419 million from the Public Transportation Trust Fund—money meant for capital improvements—redirecting it to state roads in rural areas over the next two years. Capital funds from the PTTF are fully dedicated to SEPTA’s critical infrastructure projects, including bridge repairs, signal upgrades, power systems, track improvements, and vehicle replacements.
These funds also support federal grant matches and debt service. With a $10 billion backlog in infrastructure repairs, SEPTA’s capital program is already severely underfunded. This bill does not save SEPTA. It forces agencies like SEPTA and PRT to use their capital funds just to maintain basic operations, leaving them to choose between maintaining the country’s oldest rail fleet or maintaining service for the 800,000 people who rely on it. The bill also mandates permanent fare increases tied to inflation every two years, a burden that falls hardest on working families in rural, urban, and suburban areas alike.
Diverting PTTF capital funds to operating expenses—without replacement—threatens future projects and ensures a new crisis: not from a lack of operating funds, but from an inability to run service due to failing infrastructure and vehicles. The funding shifts proposed by Republicans would halt vital projects, jeopardizing public transit and economic growth across Pennsylvania. The Senate Bill, as written, would end SEPTA.
On August 14, SEPTA began implementation of severe service cuts due to the Senate's failure. Fifty bus routes will be eliminated, five regional rail lines will be suspended, and sixty-six stations will close. SEPTA will raise fares by more than 20 percent and a curfew will be implemented. The Senate’s failure to adequately fund transit isn’t just hurting riders—it will cost the Commonwealth an estimated $11 billion in lost tax revenue.
After months of failing to come to the table to negotiate a budget and despite it being 46 days overdue, Senate also passed a placeholder state budget that ignores the real costs of running Pennsylvania. This comes at a time when Pennsylvanians are already grappling with the effects of inflation and economic uncertainty fueled by national challenges.
Despite the Commonwealth holding more than $10 billion in reserves between the General Fund and the Rainy Day Fund, the Senate’s proposal falls far short. It would have harmful consequences for residents across the state and does nothing to address the education funding shortfall identified by the Commonwealth Court. It ignores inflationary pressures and leaves essential services like public transit, health care, and hospitals in limbo. It also failed to move on any of the sources of increasing revenue sent over by the House.
The House Rules and Appropriations committees met this week and reject the Senate’s inadequate proposals. While the full House is not being called back at this time, we remain ready to return and work with the Governor and the Senate to reach a real, responsible solution. We are committed to compromise, but we will not accept a plan that sacrifices our schools, hospitals, transit systems or constituents.
If you or a friend or family member live in districts represented by Senator Frank Farry, Senator Tracy Pennycuick, or Senator Joe Picozzi, I urge you and your friends and family to contact them and demand they support serious, adequate transit funding. Many of their constituents rely on SEPTA every single day, yet they have done nothing to prevent this crisis.
You can reach them here:
Senator Farry at (717) 787-5072 or (215) 638-1784,
Senator Pennycuick at (717) 787-3110 or (215) 541-2388,
Senator Picozzi at (717) 787-9608 or (215) 281-2539.
As Senator Maria Collett so saliently commented: “Pennsylvania deserves better than governance by crisis.” I agree. Pennsylvanians deserve leaders who plan ahead, act with urgency, and deliver results—not empty gestures and political games.
Let’s demand more—for our transit, our schools, our health and our future.