Committee approves allowing counties to use supplemental county bridge funds on municipal bridges, adds six-month effective date

The Pennsylvania House Transportation Committee on Tuesday voted to report House Bill 2214, which would permit counties to use supplemental county bridge funding on municipal bridges inside the county and clarify that bridges owned by the City of Philadelphia count as county-owned for the program.

Committee staff summarized the bill as changing eligibility for the $5,000,000 annual allocation created under Act 89 of 2013 and allowing PennDOT to draw additional motor license fund dollars to "fill any gaps" so no county receives less than in the prior year. Chairman Nielsen offered Amendment A03475, which staff said "creates a 6 month effective date"; the committee adopted that amendment before taking the final vote.

Representative Anthony Bellman, sponsor of the bill, said the change is intended to correct what he described as an unfair interpretation that left approximately 158 Philadelphia-owned bridges ineligible for supplemental funding. "Considering that the people of Philadelphia contribute to the motor license fund through the gas tax, license fees, and registration fees ... it seems inherently unfair that Philadelphia has been denied this funding for over a decade," he told the committee.

Chairman Benninghoff said some members in rural districts worried the change could shift scarce resources toward urban areas; he asked whether the fund's totality would increase and said he would vote no. The chair and sponsor replied the bill authorizes PennDOT to draw roughly $1.3 million additional dollars to increase the program's total for counties, a figure the chair repeated during discussion.

After debate, the committee took a roll-call vote; the chair announced the bill "has passed and will be reported as committed as amended."