Pielli echoes call to properly fund SEPTA
Conference a part of State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta’s March from Upper Darby to Harrisburg
Rep. Chris Pielli August 30, 2025
WEST CHESTER, Aug. 29 – State Rep. Chris Pielli, D-Chester, welcomed state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Phila., and others to the Chester County Justice Center for a rally to support SEPTA funding as part of a stop on Kenyatta’s march from Upper Darby to Harrisburg.
Highlighting the PA Senate Republicans’ inaction and political games regarding mass transit funding, state House Democrats demanded a solution as recent SEPTA service cuts have devastated riders in Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania.
“The Southeast region of PA generates over 40% of all General Tax Revenue in the entire state and yet we only get back 19% in government services,” Pielli said. “That’s nearly $16 billion dollars. Chester County and our public transportation have a lot to do with that. We are the economic engine that runs PA. So, when Republicans state that we are asking for too much, I say we are asking for our money and not to fund them like a welfare region that they are. This is taxation without transportation. This is taxation without fair economic representation, and I’m tired of red county Republicans sponging off the bounty of our labor and blocking fair funding for our schools, our seniors, our streets and bridges and, yes, our SEPTA.”
Pielli recently hosted a news conference with Chester County elected officials to call on the state Senate to fund SEPTA and other mass transit systems in Pennsylvania. Since the news conference, SEPTA has made multiple cuts to its bus, trolley and train services in the Greater Philadelphia Area due to lack of funding. House Democrats have put forward multiple proposals, to which the state Senate has replied with a bill that fell short of addressing the critical needs of SEPTA.
Following the news conference, Kenyatta and colleagues continued walking toward Lancaster for another rally before their planned arrival in Harrisburg on Tuesday, Sept. 2 for a second news conference on the front steps of the State Capitol Complex.