HARRISBURG — Philadelphia House Democrats warn that looming service cuts and rising fares for the city’s mass transit system would have a deleterious ripple effect across Pennsylvania, harming the commonwealth’s economy while stranding students and workers to whom the system is a lifeline.
The legislators called on Senate Republicans to return to session in Harrisburg and vote to fund mass transit ahead of Aug. 24, when Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority intends to enact austerity measures in light of a $213 million budget deficit.
“This is real, folks. Toward the end of this month, SEPTA will stop functioning in certain places in our commonwealth,” Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, House Majority Appropriations Chair, said Monday at a press event outside Lincoln High School in Northeast Philadelphia, located within the district of Philadelphia’s only Republican state senator, Joe Picozzi.
“The time is out for talking, it’s about putting up votes,” Harris said.
Pennsylvania is now in the second month of post-deadline negotiations on a state budget that is due annually on June 30. The state House, behind Democrats’ one-seat majority, advanced a $50.5 billion plan last month.
The Senate Republican majority gutted the bill seemingly to prepare a vehicle for a counterproposal, but hasn’t yet introduced a revised offer to return to the House.
Transit is one of several central issues needing resolution as part of the budget process, including the regulation and taxation of skill games as well as spending on Medicaid.
While closed-door negotiations reportedly continue, there are no firm plans for either chamber to return to the Capitol before September. State senators are on 24-hour notice to return whenever a budget deal is finalized.
“Our state is faced with a structural deficit just like SEPTA. Along with the discussion of any additional dollars for mass transit, this reality necessitates meaningful reforms and accountability measures must be implemented to ensure the long-term success of mass transit,” Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Armstrong/Indiana/Jefferson/Westmoreland, said Monday.
Southeastern Pennsylvania consists of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. The metropolitan area accounts for approximately 30% of Pennsylvania’s population and 40% of its gross domestic product, according to state data.
Ridership for SEPTA hasn’t fully recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted transportation in early 2020, and there have been increased concerns with service reliability and public safety. Without additional state funds, SEPTA has a plan in place in which service will be cut by 45% while fares will rise on average by more than 20%.
The House adopted a transit funding plan in June with scant Republican support. The measure is the fourth advanced by the Democratic majority since October 2023, but like its predecessors, the bill has been left to linger in the Senate.
It proposes to infuse an estimated $292 million in new funding in fiscal 2026 and $1.5 billion collectively across five years, not only for SEPTA but for 52 different public transit systems across Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania already provides about $1.5 billion annually to SEPTA. The bill proposes to shift a greater share of sales tax revenue to the Pennsylvania transit system, though not to raise the tax itself.
In an effort to curry support from the Senate Republican majority, the bill includes an estimated $330 million in additional funding, also spread across five years, to support road and bridge projects, many in rural communities.
“All of our lives will be made dramatically worse without SEPTA. This is not a partisan issue. This is about if we will step away from the political theater and do what’s necessary to fund an essential part of our urban infrastructure,” Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia, said Monday.
“To my Republican colleagues, the decreased state revenue, the disruption of our economy, the loss of livelihood for thousands of people, those will be on your hands. You and you alone will be responsible. But, we have 20 days until these cuts begin. We call on the Senate Republican caucus to come to Harrisburg, to pass the bill, this is essential, please do the right thing,” he said.
Sen. Joe Picozzi, serving in the first year of his first term, has been targeted by House Democrats on social media and at public events, urging him to act on his pledged support of public transit in Pennsylvania’s largest city.
Southeast Pennsylvania’s only other Senate representatives, Sen. Tracy Pennycuick of Berks and Montgomery counties and Sen. Frank Farry of Bucks County, have also been urged by Democrats to support a transit plan. The three Republicans, in theory, could tip the majority balance on a transit vote in the Senate in favor of the Democratic plan.
Picozzi introduced legislation on July 23 that focuses on accountability and transparency, some of which SEPTA reportedly agreed to pursue already. It doesn’t, however, include a funding mechanism that Democrats say is necessary to buoy public transit in Philadelphia.
“Since taking office, I have been working to deliver crucial funding to keep our trains and buses running. I have introduced legislation to make SEPTA safer and bring additional accountability, which is supported by SEPTA leadership. This legislation is laying the groundwork for a bipartisan deal to deliver the necessary funding for our public transit system. Bottom line: I’m fighting to save SEPTA through both funding and increased safety and accountability. I’m calling for all Philadelphia leaders to stand together for our city and to work across the aisle to get this done,” Picozzi said Monday.