HARRISBURG - House Republican lawmakers want to expand oversight of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission as part of a state transportation funding package taking shape.
The proposals would require a commission audit every two years by the state auditor general, strengthen hiring qualifications for the chief financial officer and require a legislative public hearing on turnpike operations each year, Stephen Miskin, spokesman for House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Pittsburgh said Tuesday.
A proposed bill amendment calls for the Turnpike chief financial officer to have extensive experience in financial management and testimony by at least one commission member before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The commission is currently audited every four years.
The commission is under scrutiny with a preliminary hearing underway this week into state corruption charges against individuals involved in an alleged pay-to-play scheme at the commission.
A group of House GOP lawmakers have introduced legislation to merge the commission with the state Transportation Department.
House and Senate GOP leaders are negotiating the size of a transportation package, key revenue sources and the geographic impact of spending on roads, bridges and mass transit. Transportation funding is a priority item sought by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in tandem with state budget approval.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Dick Hess, R-78, Bedford, said he is working to line up votes for a bill in his committee as early as today. He said the committee needs to act by Thursday to allow time for legislative action to be completed by Sunday's deadline for approving a new state budget. Many GOP lawmakers are reluctant to vote for any state transportation tax when the economy is fragile, Miskin said.
Still, one area of agreement emerging between the House and Senate is lifting the cap on the state Oil Franchise tax paid by gasoline wholesalers to generate the bulk of new transportation revenue for roads and bridges. But the Senate bill would lift the cap over a three-year period while a proposal floated by the House leadership would lift the cap over ten years. A complete lifting of this cap would add about 28.5 cents per gallon to the tax paid by wholesalers, with most of those costs being passed on to consumers.
A Senate bill approved earlier this month with overwhelming bipartisan support would boost spending on state roads, bridges and mass transit by up to $2.5 billion annually within five years, hike registration and license fees and levy a $100 surcharge for moving traffic violations to fund mass transit.
The House proposal would keep license and registration fees at current levels, scrap the $100 surcharge and boost spending by up to $2 billion annually in a decade.
The GOP proposal would cut mass transit funding, said Rep. Mike Carroll, D-118, Hughestown, a transportation committee member.
"It totally falls short on many levels," he said.
Carroll expressed hope that a bipartisan bill can emerge from the committee.