House committee reports bill to boost transit fund, votes 16-10

The House Transportation Committee voted 16-10 to report House Bill 1364, which would increase the portion of sales tax revenue transferred to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%, a 1.75 percentage‑point rise that the administration estimates would provide about $292,500,000 for transit services across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

Kyle (committee staff) summarized the bill for the committee: “This bill increases the amount of existing sales tax revenue transferred to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%, which represents a 1.75% increase.... According to the administration, this bill will provide an additional 292,500,000.0 for transit services in all 67 counties.” The staff summary explained that trust‑fund money is allocated to transit agencies by a statutory formula that uses passenger counts, senior passengers, revenue vehicle hours and revenue vehicle miles.

Chairman Ed Nielsen, the bill’s sponsor, framed the proposal as a way to provide steady funding without raising taxes. “This bill ... will do it without a single increase in taxes,” he told the committee and urged prompt action, saying the state could not “take a gamble” on uncertain future revenue sources.

Members from both urban and rural districts described service and access concerns. Representatives from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia warned of deep service cuts without additional revenue; one member said the city of Pittsburgh faces “severe and frankly draconian cuts” for paratransit and other services if funding falls short. Other members noted broader economic impacts if major transit systems reduced service, including effects on workers’ access to jobs and the regional economy.

Several organizations were listed in the committee summary as supporting the bill, including SEPTA, the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association, the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, the Parking and Transportation Association of Pennsylvania, Transit Forward Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the American Council of Engineering Companies, Clean Air Council, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Mobilify and Pittsburghers for Public Transit.

Roll call: the committee’s roll call in the provided transcript recorded 16 yays and 10 nays. The transcript lists yes votes from Chairman Ed Nielsen, Bellman, Curry, Guzman (designation), Hohenstein (designation), Isaacson, Madsen (designation), McAndrew, Mullins (designation), O’Meara (designation), Powell, Sappy, Shusterman (designation), Segal (designation), and Tomlinson (designation). The nays recorded included Chairman Benninghoff, Bernstein (designation), Devonzo (designation), Flood, Hamm (designation), Rinkavage (designation), Shuren, Schmidt, Smith, and Stambaugh.

With the committee’s favorable report, House Bill 1364 will move to the next legislative stage where further floor action and final votes would be required before the change takes effect.