Things have not been going well for Pennsylvania’s budget. Unable to reach a consensus in the spring, the state Legislature recently returned to Harrisburg and some legislators, calling themselves the “Taxpayer Caucus,” came up with an idea to plug the budgetary hole: Raid money from the state’s transportation funds.
The plan, based on a push we first saw from the Capitol-based conservative Commonwealth Foundation, would take funds away from Circuit trails, transportation, SEPTA, and other important programs in Pennsylvania.
Though the Taxpayer Caucus was not able to cobble together more than 90 votes to pass their bill earlier this week, the caucus was continuing their push throughout the day Wednesday.
As of 9am this morning, they were attempting to draft a compromise plan in a Republican Caucus session and we need people to continue to reach out. We’re hearing there may be a vote around 5pm on Wednesday.
We need as many of you who are interested in trail development to call or email your house representative and let them know how important it is NOT to raid transportation funding which supports our trails, roads, bridges and public transit.
Your emails and phone calls have already made a difference.
On Monday, the Bicycle Coalition’s Bob Previdi was in Harrisburg to talk to lawmakers about these funds, and Rep. Scott Petri of Bucks County told us he’d gotten a lot of our emails and is against raiding multi-modal funds.
We need a last push. Keep the emails going. Send an email or call your representative today.
To find your state representative’s contact information, click here.