BCT Editorial – 5/5/10

The Times continues its narrative that PA’s transportation “funding gap” is the result of the feds turning down the I-80 toll proposal.  The proposal never had a chance because it violates federal law.  Something the Times continues to fail to note is the U.S. DOT likely would have approved tolling I-80 as long as the tolls would have been used only for the “care and feeding” of I-80 as required by federal law.  That wasn’t enough for PA, however.  The Governor, General Assembly, and the Times wanted I-80 tolls to be used to transfer wealth from I-80 drivers to users of other roads and government-owned and run bus systems like BCTA and PAT.

Some questions:

·       How much of what the commonwealth taxpayer pays for bridges and roads should really be paid by local taxpayers?  That is, how many truly local roads/bridges are designated as state-maintained roads?

·       Why are commonwealth taxpayers paying for mass transit systems like BCTA, PAT, SEPTA, et cetera?  Ignoring the argument of whether they should even exist, government-run mass transit systems should at least be self-sufficient.  That is, rider fares should be mass transit’s funding source.

·       What if we weren’t spending tons of money on extra-constitutional programs like Medicaid, PACE, SCHIP, and so on?

·       What if we weren’t overspending on things like state employee retirement packages?

·       What if we weren’t overspending on state-subsidized education?

Here’s the bottom line.  The commonwealth is like the person who spends his income on things like cell phones, flat-screen TVs, premium cable/satellite TV packages, dining out, et cetera and then complains when he can’t pay his mortgage.

On another point, let’s all remember the Times advising, “Let’s see what April’s revenues are before slashing state’s budget.”  I don’t know if the Times covered this story, but “Secretary of Revenue C. Daniel Hassell today [May 3, 2010] reported that Pennsylvania collected $2.9 billion in General Fund revenue in April, which was $390 million, or 11.8 percent, less than anticipated.  Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $22.8 billion, which is $1.1 billion, or 4.6 percent, below estimate.”  Oops.