WE.CONNECT.DOTS: Federal lawmakers have a lower approval rating than those who make state legislation in Harrisburg because Congress is fodder for late night comedians.
You see ineptness nightly in the antics of those who run our government in Washington. Not so easy to find news about state government. State news gets little in-depth coverage and – if it does – there is no forum that reaches all of PA.
The 127-page transportation legislation Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law this week is an example. As usual, there were more unanswered questions, particularly in the evolution of the funding bill.
An obvious conclusion is the very rich will not be contributing any more to better roads, bridges and public transportation than you and I, maybe even less. That has become par for the course. The rich write very large campaign checks. The rich always enjoy greater access to our politicians.
Could state government have made the burden less onerous on the working poor by assessing increased fees on the wealthy? Yes, by scaling vehicle registration fees to weight, age, taxable value or a combination of these. For example, the owner of a brand new Cadillac Escalade would pay far more to register the vehicle than a working single mother who drives a 10-year-old Chevrolet Cavalier. About half of states already have sliding vehicle registration fee schedules based on one or more of these criteria.
The new funding bill also doubles and triples fines, everything from speeding, running stops signs to allowing insurance to lapse. This funding source may yield less, as police may be hesitant to make arrests when the financial penalty is so high.
Some Republican lawmakers who take their pledge never to raise taxes seriously wanted the proceeds of the sale of liquor stores to fund roads and bridges. Corbett was having none of that. If liquor privatization passes, Corbett wants to use those dollars to make up the cutbacks he is blamed for in public education.
In the end, Corbett did not need to make any major deals to get his legislation. Very few of his “Tea Party Republicans” provided votes for transportation funding. He got his necessary votes from Democrats who seemed to be responding more to the wishes of labor unions that would benefit from the projects.
Not all Democrats voted for the bill. Organized labor split on the bill because it also loosens prevailing wage rules. Higher wages now do not need to be paid on any projects under $100,000, up from a longtime cap of $25,000.
Corbett has decided to handle his “no tax” promise made in 2010 gubernatorial campaign in the following manner. First, the bill actually lifts the cap on a wholesale oil tax on suppliers. This means he can campaign for re-election in 2014 and say he “never directly raised taxes on anyone.”
Once the guffaws have subsided, Corbett will retreat to “the suppliers may not pass the entire increase on to the motorist.” Corbett’s office is alone in believing this. Everyone else says gasoline taxes from this funding bill will raises 28 cents per gallon over the next five years.
State politicians ignored the forecast that the Federal Highway Trust Fund will be unable to meet its funding commitments in 2015, causing Congress to levy another 10-15 cents tax per gallon. By 2025, new vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average 54.5 miles per gallon, up from 30.8 now.
In addition, PA saw a 10.44% decline in vehicle miles traveled since 2005.
Bottom Line: None of these factors shall reduce the onerous impact on working poor drivers. Conversely, the rich likely will not feel the increases. Business is done that way in Harrisburg.
