House and Senate GOP plans reform package for January

Editor’s Note: This is part four of our “Capitol Projects” series. Between Election Day and the beginning of the new legislative session in January, this series of special reports will highlight the most important issues facing the General Assembly and governor-elect Tom Corbett. The topics included were chosen for the impact they will have on the citizens of Pennsylvania and were drawn from the campaign promises of our elected officials.

In many ways, the 20-mile stretch of Interstate 95 through Philadelphia is emblematic of the state’s transportation crisis.

The portion of the highway which runs along the Delaware River through the state’s largest city was built in the 1970s and is an elevated freeway for almost its entire length, making it the longest “bridge” in the state. In PennDOT’s southeast region, I-95 accounts for more than 60 percent of total bridge deck area. It also provides a critical avenue for people and products through the city, but like many of the bridges and highways throughout the state, the road is in need of serious repair.

The size and expense of the project has some lawmakers wondering if leasing the highway – or others like it across the state – could be a viable solution to the state’s transportation deficit.

One of those lawmakers is state Rep. Rick Geist (R-Blair), chair of the House Transportation Committee, who believes I-95 needs more than just repairs. In all likelihood, the majority of the section will have to be rebuilt within the decade, he said.

Never was that more evident than in March 2008, when a two mile section of the elevated road had to be shut down for a week because large cracks were discovered in support columns.

“I worry that we won’t have the political will to do something about it until there’s another problem and they have to shut it down,” said Mr. Geist.

But the cost of rebuilding the highway – estimated at about $20 billion – is astronomically high. This year, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) had a total budget of $1.8 billion for all new highway construction in the state.

And that’s only one project, even if it is a large one.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 38 percent of Pennsylvania’s roads are rated fair or poor. Of the state’s 22,280 bridges, 27 percent are considered structurally deficient and 17 percent are deemed functionally obsolete.

The solution, perhaps, lies in a proposal to lease some of Pennsylvania’s highways to private owners. Known as a Public-Private Partnership (P3), the approach relieves the state of the cost of repairing and maintaining critical highways. In return, private firms are allowed to place tolls on the road to cover their expenses.

Mr. Geist believes I-95 would meet the federal requirements for a leasing agreement with a private firm. If the state cannot receive authorization to lease the road, it could also apply to the federal government for the right to place tolls on the highway to pay for repairs.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) encourages the use of P3 arrangements to solve state transportation funding problems. According to the FHWA’s website, partnerships “bring creativity, efficiency, and capital to address complex transportation problems facing state and local governments.”

Some observers are urging lawmakers to be more cautious about seeing P3 legislation as a way to cure Pennsylvania’s transportation woes.

Peter Javsicas, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Transportation Solutions (PennTrans), a Philadelphia-based organization which advocates for increased public transportation investment by the state, said it is difficult for politicians to predict the future while also trying to close a budget shortfall.

“When you lease to a private owner, they are still going to have to pay for things, so they might have to raise the tolls anyway,” said Mr. Javsicas. “Like so many other things, the devil is in the details.”

With some P3 leases running for as long as 50 or 70 years, Mr. Javsicas said it is difficult for lawmakers to predict the future while also trying to balance a budget in the short term. To put things in perspective, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is roughly 70 years old.

The P3 approach is one of several plans which the General Assembly could take as it faces a $472 million annual transportation budget shortfall created by the failure of the state’s plan to place tolls on Interstate 80. On top of the deficit, the state Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) last summer recommended an annual $3 billion increase to cover the rising cost of maintaining the state’s aging infrastructure.

The TAC report called for “structural change” to the state’s transportation funding mechanism, and recommended new taxes, the tolling of highways, P3 leases and debt borrowing to close the funding gap.

Other plans to increase annual funding for transportation projects were put on the table during a special session on transportation called by Gov. Ed Rendell earlier this year.

A plan from House Democrats to increase funding for transportation by more than $1.2 billion annually with higher taxes and fees also included a provision to allow P3 arrangements, but in the end the special session failed to pass a single piece of legislation. A different package of proposals from Mr. Geist was overshadowed by the Democrats’ funding plan.

In 2011, with Republicans holding a majority in the state House, Mr. Geist plans to immediately re-introduce his package of transportation reforms. Other proposals, including increases to the gasoline tax and state vehicle and driver fees could be considered.

In the state Senate, Majority Transportation Chair John Rafferty (R-Montgomery) plans to introduce legislation which could expand potential P3 projects beyond roads and bridges to include parking garages, airports, and other transportation infrastructure as well.

The Senate Transportation Committee does not intend to discuss any tax increases or higher registration fees, according to a senior staff member.

Governor-elect Tom Corbett took a pledge not to raise taxes during the campaign, which would seem to remove higher gasoline taxes from the equation as the state tries to balance the transportation budget.

During the campaign, Mr. Corbett said he would support P3 legislation to “build new roads and reduce congestion.” He also promised to establish a transportation trust fund to provide additional dedicated funding streams for road and bridge repairs, even at the cost of selling public assets.