SPRING MILLS, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett signed a bill
Monday that will pump billions of dollars into improvements to Pennsylvania's
highways, bridges and mass-transit systems, a major achievement that could
energize Corbett's 2014 re-election campaign.
Dozens of state and local officials looked on as the
Republican signed the legislation in shivering temperatures at a ceremony in
the parking lot of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Spring Mills along busy
Route 322 near State College. Corbett was flying to similar events later in the
day in the Philadelphia suburbs and Pittsburgh.
"There is barely a spot in Pennsylvania ... that will
not see an improvement because of this legislation," Corbett said.
Corbett praised lawmakers who approved the bill in
bipartisan votes in both houses last week, contrasting the bill's enactment to
the partisan gridlock in Congress that prompted a 16-day partial shutdown of
the national government in October.
"Pennsylvania is a state that puts progress ahead of
party," he said. "The men and women who stood for this bill
understood that compromise is not surrender, but rather a path to
success."
Corbett played down the increases in gas taxes and motorist
fees that will be phased in over five years to generate at least $2.3 billion a
year — an increase of about 40 percent from the $5.3 billion that the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is scheduled to spend this year on
highways, bridges and public transit.
Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch, who was traveling
with the governor Monday, said the combined increases, once they are fully in
effect, amount to about $2.50 a week for a motorist who travels 12,000 miles a
year. That assumes the proposed increase in the Oil Company Franchise Tax on
wholesale gasoline is entirely passed on consumers, he said.
The first fuel tax increase under the bill takes effect Jan.
1, according to PennDOT. The tax is imposed on the sale of fuel to gas station
owners.
The governor said the accelerated schedule of transportation
projects will bolster the state's economy and enhance public safety.
In August, PennDOT announced new or increased weight
restrictions on about 1,000 state and local bridges to enhance public safety
and extend the life of the spans, citing uncertainty over transportation
funding. Nearly 4,500 out of 25,000 state-owned bridges are deemed to be
structurally deficient, or in need of repair, more than any other state.
Corbett advocated a major increase in transportation
funding, including an increase in the wholesale fuel tax, in his February
budget address. The bill's passage is a distinct feather in his cap as his
re-election campaign gears up.
His other top legislative priorities — the privatization of
state liquor and wine sales and an overhaul of the major state pension funds —
stalled and independent polls show his job-approval ratings have been
stubbornly low for months. Eight Democrats have already lined up for their
party's nomination to challenge Corbett next year.
It was a friendly crowd that greeted Corbett in Spring
Mills. A handful of people interviewed at random said they were glad to see a
major infusion of money to spur transportation projects, although one disliked
the higher taxes.
"Tax increases ain't never good," said Gary R.
Smith, a senior vice commander of the state VFW.
Corbett vowed not to raise taxes, including motorist fees,
during his campaign for the governorship. But he has said he does not agree
that the transportation bill broke those promises and insists there was no way
to predict how much of the increase would be passed along to consumers.
Source: Associated
Press / Penn Live
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