(HARRISBURG) – Senator Cris Dush (R-25) today supported legislation to put the brakes on plans by the PA Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to toll nine bridges, including the I-80 North Fork Bridge in Jefferson County.
“The Constitution gives to the legislature alone the ability to institute a tax,” Senator Dush said during the news conference. “We did not give the executive branch the ability to institute this tax.”
Senate Bill 382 reforms the Public-Private Transportation Partnership (P3) statute, and voids the PennDOT Pathways Major Bridge P3 Initiative:
- Increases transparency by requiring PennDOT to publish a detailed analysis prior to the P3 Board’s voting meeting, and mandating PennDOT to distribute a copy of the P3 Board’s resolution, with or without a user fee, within 24 hours.
- Incorporates public input by creating a new 30-day public comment period prior to the P3 Board’s voting meeting; and
- Creates checks and balances on an obscure P3 Board by clarifying the P3 project with a user fee shall be deemed disapproved unless the General Assembly passes a concurrent resolution approving the P3 project with a user fee.
Senator Dush joined several of his colleagues in calling for the legislation, including Senator Wayne Langerholc Jr. (R-35), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.
“The town of Brookville with less than 5,000 people will be shut down because trucks will clog the main street as they circumvent this bridge,” Senator Dush said. “The congestion caused by the truck traffic will cost the business owners money while at the same time destroying the roadway itself.”
CONTACT: Cris Dush