State Senator Joe Pittman will soon introduce a bill to accelerate the timeline for removing State Police funding from the state’s Motor License Fund and restoring it to the General Fund budget.
Since the 2012-13 fiscal year, the state has dipped into transportation funding for State Police operations, extracting more than $4.25 billion that was meant for road and bridge projects. In the budget deal three years ago, an $801 million cap was placed on the diversion of funds, with a schedule put in place to reduce that to $500 million over ten years.
With eight years left in that plan, Pittman’s new legislation would slice that time in half, doubling the transfer of funds from about four percent per year to eight percent. The senator says State Police will still be fully funded, but from the General Fund revenue stream rather than the Motor License Fund.
Pittman says the timing is right for his bill, given the state’s improved revenue outlook, and with some potential losses coming in state and federal funds for transportation. A recent report says Pennsylvania could lose a cumulative $6 billion in federal funds due to the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund and another $3.6 billion in state funds if a vehicle sales tax transfer is repealed and the Turnpike Commission reduces its payments.
