Legislation recently introduced in the state House would reform the public private partnership (P3) transportation law.
House Bill 920 would amend Act 88 of 2012. It would require the P3 board to disapprove any proposed transportation project that involves state property, and the public entity has not disclosed the specific property involved in the project. It would also require the General Assembly to approve any P3 transportation project which imposes user fees. If approval is not given within a year, the project would be deemed disapproved.
The bill also would allow the General Assembly to disapprove a P3 project involving state property when no user fees are involved. The General Assembly would have 20 calendar days or nine voting days, whichever is longer, to vote unless not enough days exist in the current legislative session.
If enacted, the bill would apply to the current bridge tolling proposal and future P3 projects.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian revealed a plan in February to toll nine bridges statewide.
Reps. Sheryl Delozier (R-Lower Allen), Andrew Lewis (R-Dauphin), and Jason Ortitay (R-Washington/Allegheny) introduced the bill.
“The bridge tolling proposal put forward was ill-advised, to say the least, and it came with more questions than answers,” Lewis said.