SEPTA Needs a Long-Term Funding Solution After Bailout -Philadelphia Inquirer
While Gov. Josh Shapiro temporarily stopped SEPTA from falling into a “death spiral” by redirecting federal roadway funds to the nation’s sixth-largest public transit system, the fight in Harrisburg to secure a reliable state funding stream is just getting underway.
State lawmakers will spend the next several months deal making to help SEPTA avoid a fiscal crisis, including major rate increases, temporarily stalled by Shapiro’s efforts, for nearly 800,000 residents who use public transportation on a daily basis in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.
Who is to blame for SEPTA’s funding crisis and why lawmakers couldn’t come together sooner to reach a solution is an ongoing disagreement among top legislative leaders in the GOP-controlled Senate and narrow Democratic majority in the state House, with disagreement from each party on how to move forward.
For top Democrats, including Shapiro, it’s the failure of Senate Republicans to work on the issue. For Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), SEPTA’s funding woes are a “crisis of [Shapiro’s] own making,” instead prioritizing public education dollars over public transit in budget negotiations earlier this year. And according to Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana), Senate GOP members are being thrown under the bus by Democrats, instead of proposing realistic solutions.
