As lawmakers continue to work to finalize the state budget, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) today called on Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Democrats to stop playing politics on the mass transit issue.
Martin noted that Governor Shapiro has existing authority to provide funding from the Public Transportation Trust Fund (PTTF) to support additional operating expenses for mass transit agencies to prevent continued service cuts. “Governor Shapiro has authority to get money to SEPTA immediately – without any further legislative action – but has so far shown no willingness to do so,” added Martin.
Under 67 Pa. Code 427.6(b), the Shapiro Administration has the authority to allow capital assistance funds to be used for operating assistance for a period of up to one year. This language specifically provides authorization of the transfer of capital funds for operating assistance if support is needed to prevent service cuts, which have already been implemented by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).
The PTTF has a current balance of more than $2.4 billion. This is more than enough to fund Governor Shapiro’s request for an additional $292.5 million in mass transit funding for Fiscal Year 2025-26 without jeopardizing a single asset improvement project anywhere in Pennsylvania, Martin said. Each year, the PTTF capital program receives more than half a billion dollars of new taxpayer money.
In media interviews on Monday, Governor Shapiro acknowledged that the Senate Republican proposal to use excess PTTF money could be part of the solution to the immediate issues facing mass transit.
“This is part of what we mean when we say the SEPTA cuts are a manufactured crisis,” Martin said. “The governor already flexed $153 million in federal funding away from scheduled road and bridge projects to support SEPTA last year because he said they needed the money. Why would he not use his authority now to allow mass transit agencies to utilize unused funding that is specifically dedicated to mass transit? That doesn’t sound like someone who wants to get stuff done.”
“Governor Shapiro falsely claimed earlier this week that Senate Republicans were holding up passage of the budget for political gain, even while he and his Democrat allies have taken every opportunity to sling mud at our leadership and our members in the southeast,” Martin said. “When your side is staging rallies, press conferences and protests every day and calling out individual legislators who are working hard to find solutions, how do you have the gall to accuse the other side of playing politics?”
