House Appropriations Committee advances bill to raise mass-transit funding, allow bonding and P3s

The House Appropriations Committee advanced House Bill 17 88 at a committee meeting after a brief overview and largely party-line statements. The bill would increase the statutory transfer for mass transit funding, authorize the Commonwealth Financing Authority to bond revenue from a sales-and-use-tax transfer for highways and bridges, dedicate funding for three- and four-digit state routes, require minimum system performance criteria and performance reports, allow public–private transportation partnerships (P3), and permit digital advertising on public-transit vehicles.

The committee executive director summarized the bill for the committee: "In front of us, we have house bill…