By Darwyyn Deyo | PA Independent
HARRISBURG – A water-main break at the state Capitol is just a trickle compared to the tsunami that could wash across the state if Pennsylvania's infrastructure needs are not addressed.
“You need a lot of money pumped into these systems to make them work,” said Geist. “The only time people say anything is when they don’t have water and their sewage doesn’t work.”
Geist, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said public safety is the No. 1 job of government.
“If you don’t have a water system that works, you’re looking at diseases and all kinds of problems, Geist said. "If you have a sewer system that doesn’t work, you’re guaranteed that.”
He said Harrisburg's water-main break is unlikely to spur the state to action, though similar system failures “happen all over the state.”
Geist has proposed legislation to address the state's bridges, roads and highway needs, and would like to revive a proposal from the previous session by state Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, that addresses water and sewer infrastructure. The work, Geist said, could be funded by private-public partnerships, known as P3s.
Turzai's office did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Nathan Benefield, director of research for the Commonwealth Foundation, said P3s would be a good way to address infrastructure needs, though he said the cost should fall to local governments instead of state government.
“This is an area that it is easy to make residents and business pay directly through user fees, rather than using general tax revenue — making it ripe for use of P3s — but also to ensure than any funds for infrastructure upgrades be passed on to users and in protected funds,” said Benefield.
“Water systems are a mix of public and private,” said Hill. “The majority is private water systems.”
“I think we suffer from a collective blind spot when it comes to paying for infrastructure,” George said. “We just don’t want to confront that it costs money, often a lot of money, just to maintain infrastructure. We all know it’s going to cost money, and the longer we wait the more it’ll cost. But nobody wants to be the one blamed for raising this tax or that levy.”
“There are those who believe that we should have infrastructure just like a Third World country,” Geist said. “A lot of them really consider themselves to be very good government people, but when you talk and act this way, you’re only putting the bill off to somebody later in life, because at some point people are going to demand these services.”
