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Senate, House Committees Approve Transportation Private-Public Partnership Bills
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After considerable negotiation with the House, the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday unanimously amended and re-reported Senate Bill 344 (Rafferty-R-Montgomery) which would establish Public-Private Partnerships in order to allow the private sector to join with the Commonwealth to provide funding to address transportation deficiencies throughout the state.
At nearly the same time, the House Transportation Committee amended and reported out House Bill 3 (Geist-R-Blair) also authorizing public-private transportation partnerships doing the same thing.
According to a report by the State Transportation Advisory Committee released last year, Pennsylvania faces a $3.5 billion shortfall to pay for critical transportation improvements.
"This bill isn't the answer to all of our state's transportation problems, but it is, I believe, a positive and proactive step we can take now to start addressing those concerns," Chairman John Rafferty said. "We've worked extensively with the House and other applicable parties in refining this bipartisan bill, and I look forward to seeing it through the process and eventually into law."
Chairman Rafferty's Senate Bill 344 would:
-- Provide for Public-Private Partnerships in order to allow the private sector to join with the Commonwealth and municipal authorities in providing funding to address any transportation needs;
-- Establish an independent board consisting of seven members – including a representative from the Governor's office, the Secretary of Transportation, the Budget Secretary, as well as four legislative appointees (one appointed by each caucus) – to review proposals and to forward these through the procurement process;
-- The net proceeds paid to the Commonwealth or a municipal authority by a private sector partner would only be used for transportation funding in the state.
Senate Bill 344 was initially considered by the Transportation Committee in February. Chairman Rafferty had similar legislation (Senate Bill 693) voted out of the Senate Transportation Committee during the previous session of the Legislature.
Senate Bill 344 was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Bill 3 is on the House Calendar for action.
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11/21/2011 |
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