The General Assembly left Harrisburg for the summer with two major
pieces of unfinished legislative business from PennFuture’s perspective.
One
task for this fall will be passing green building legislation that will
be a win for both Pennsylvania’s environment and the taxpayers. House Bill 34, sponsored by Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery, requires
high-performance building standards in most major construction and
rehabilitation projects for buildings owned or substantially leased by
Pennsylvania state government. The green buildings required in HB 34
will generate less pollution yet lead to substantial savings in energy
and water bills over the life of the buildings.
HB 34 was
approved by the House on February 13 and by the Senate Environmental
Resources and Energy Committee on June 18. It now awaits consideration
by the full Senate this fall.
The General Assembly must also pass legislation to address the
Commonwealth’s staggering $4.5 billion funding shortfall for our roads,
bridges and public transportation systems. Pennsylvania leads the
nation in deteriorated bridges. Nearly a quarter of our 44,000 miles of
state-owned roads are rated poor. Our public transportation systems are
badly in need of investments in infrastructure, equipment and deferred
maintenance.
Thanks to the tremendous leadership of Senate Transportation Committee Chair John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, the Senate
passed a transportation funding bill that will generate $2.5 billion in
new revenue by the 2017-18 fiscal year. Senate Bill 1 as passed by the
Senate had many laudable features including an emphasis on rebuilding
infrastructure, robust investments in public transportation, and
dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian trails and projects. The
bill was then considerably weakened when it was approved by the House
Transportation Committee in late June.
A major downfall of both
the Senate and House versions is that nearly one-seventh of the largest
source of funding in SB 1, the uncapping of the Oil Company Franchise
Tax, would go to Pennsylvania Turnpike expansion projects. There is no
conceivable source of funding to finish the Pittsburgh and Monroeville
legs of the Mon-Fayette toll road boondoggle, even with the new funding
in SB 1, and there are many other obstacles ensuring that this section
of the road will never be built. The General Assembly should amend SB 1
to cut off funding for these sections of the toll road, and redirect
that money toward the repair of existing infrastructure, where it is
badly needed.
