HARRISBURG — SEPTA has asked the Shapiro administration to tap hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for critical repairs and maintenance to restore full service and hold off planned fare hikes.
A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro would not comment beyond saying the administration “is reviewing this request and determining next steps.”
One top Democrat told fellow lawmakers pulling money from the special transit fund is not ideal, but "this move will be done … in collaboration between the state and transit agencies."
The fund transfer would not require approval from state lawmakers, including Republicans who control the Senate.
The request comes amid contentious talks over Pennsylvania’s more than two-month-late state budget. Democrats had hoped to secure additional long-term funding for Philadelphia’s SEPTA and other transit agencies as part of these talks, but Republicans have been extremely reluctant to go along.
SEPTA’s request also comes shortly after a court ruling that will force the agency to reverse major service cuts and halt a planned fare increase.
On Friday, Scott Sauer, general manager of SEPTA, sent a letter to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Michael Carroll, in which he asked for approval to use up to $394 million in capital assistance funds for daily operations.
This, he wrote, would allow SEPTA to restore service and avoid planned service cuts and reductions for the next two years.
“It was our hope that the Legislature could come to an agreement and pass into law Governor Shapiro’s plan to increase recurring revenue and fund a long-term solution for SEPTA,” Sauer wrote in the letter obtained by Spotlight PA. “We are thankful to the Governor and the entire Shapiro Administration for staying at the table and fighting for SEPTA's riders and employees; however, given the legislative delay and increasing fiscal pressures, we are faced with no other option than to request this waiver.”
State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said in a statement that his caucus supports the move.
“While it is encouraging to see the hardships caused by the Democrats’ manufactured crisis coming to an end, it is worth pointing out the only things House and Senate Democrats still haven’t voiced support for are safety and accountability reforms to go along with the transit funding,” Pittman wrote, saying his caucus would continue to urge transit agencies to implement reforms over the next two years.
An email sent by state Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D., Allegheny) to his fellow chamber Democrats on Friday, which was also obtained by Spotlight PA, shed more light on the request.
He framed it as “the governor, PennDOT, SEPTA, and [Pittsburgh Regional Transit]” having “one more tool they can use to get through the next fiscal year and restore services.”
“We believe based on several factors we must pivot,” Costa said of the decision to embrace a funding approach that had, until now, been mostly championed by Republicans.
For weeks, Republicans have endorsed a plan to tap a special transit fund that pays for capital projects, like new trolleys and trains, to help fund agencies’ operations as well as road and bridge work. They have repeatedly called SEPTA’s financial complaints — and the steep service cuts the agency has enacted — a “manufactured crisis,” as Pittman did Friday.
Democrats had resisted the plan, saying that SEPTA and other transit agencies need new, recurring revenue to be truly stable. Transit agencies around the country have suffered financially after pandemic-induced declines in ridership and the subsequent sunsetting of federal stimulus dollars.
Shapiro and other Democrats also opposed the Republicans’ pitch to use transit money for roads and bridges.
Recently, Shapiro and other top Democrats had expressed a willingness to pull money from the special fund as part of a broader package. However, state Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R., Lancaster) said in an interview that his caucus had fundamental differences with Democrats.
“I’m not a fan of a long-term solution,” Martin said of SEPTA funding in a TV interview last week.
He’s not convinced, he said, that SEPTA is committed to working on reforms Republicans think are important, like cutting down on fare evasion, and said this is making his caucus reluctant to commit dollars to transit funding year over year.
“Show us that you’re serious about what you said you were going to do, and then we’ll have the conversation about the long-term funding,” he said. “That’s the huge philosophical difference that’s going on right now.”
In his email to Senate Democrats, Costa wrote, “It has unfortunately become clear that the Senate Republicans do not wish to negotiate in good faith toward a resolution.” A spokesperson for state House Democrats echoed that in a statement.
“House Democrats, along with the Governor’s office and the Senate Democrats, have done our absolute best to meet the concerns expressed by the Senate Republicans regarding the need for road and bridge funding, reforms, accountability, safety, and so much more — and still the Senate Republicans say ‘no,’” spokesperson Elizabeth Rementer said.
Rementer said there’s still a need for “real, stable, recurring revenue to support transit across the commonwealth.
“As this crisis becomes more acute in all 67 counties, we still demand Senate Republicans live up to their claims and finally fund transit.”