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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 12, 2020 09:08 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Lori A. Mizgorski |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Turnpike Commission Stepdown Clarification |
In the near future, I plan on introducing legislation that would reduce the Turnpike Commission’s annual payments of $450,000,000 to PennDOT. My legislation is designed to assist the Turnpike Commission by decreasing the amount they pay annually to assist the Commonwealth with funding mass transportation. Instead of requiring the $450,000,000, the payments would decrease by $150,000,000, annually.
It is no secret the Turnpike Commission has been facing financial hardships ever since Act 44. However, by not having the ability to toll I-80, the Turnpike was not able to generate the additional revenue needed to meet its annual obligations for funding transportation within the Commonwealth. This can be seen by the total amount of debt the Commission has accumulated since Act 44. In fact, the Turnpike Commission’s total debt has surpassed the Commonwealth’s total debt. To make matters even worse, as a result of the tremendous level of debt, the Turnpike has been subject to raise its toll prices for the past 11 years, which means Pennsylvanians have been having to burden the costs of the Turnpike’s debts. My legislation will assist the Turnpike Commission by reducing their annual payments to PennDOT by $150,000,000, until they are required by statute to pay the $50,000,000 in perpetuity. My legislation is part of the House Transportation Task Force’s package of bills that is responsible for finding innovative ways for the Commonwealth to fund transportation, while also ensuring the current funding sources to transportation are as effective as possible. I hope you join me in sponsoring this important piece of transportation related legislation. |
Introduced as HB2361