Transit Update: Good News (with a catch), Bad News and More Bad News

Transit Update: Like the headline says there's good news with a catch, some bad news and then there was some more bad news. Bottom Line: You need to start calling your governor and your state legislature, which is unfortunate because the republicans are the pro privatizing party. Not that the dems are much better. They used to be. Lately, not so much. I didn't realize how much PAT workers hated Onorato until I went to that Pat rally a few weeks back.

Anyway.

First the sorta good news with a big catch. The governor's commission did come up with a plan back on October 19th. You can read that story here.

Here's a bit from the story:

The governor's Transportation Funding Advisory Commission in August recommended measures that would eventually raise $2.7 billion in new annual revenue for roads, bridges and public transit.

Now, the good news is that would seem to be enough to fund public transit not just for Pittsburgh but also for Philly. Here's the bad news or the catch: just about all the money raised for that $2.7 billion comes from regressive taxation. If you're
poor or middle class, then you'll pay more for roads and public transit than if you're wealthy. The best and fairest solution would be to tax the Marcellus Shale oil drillers. But, bottom line, if the governor pushes this, then you'll keep your bus service at decent levels.

This is where the bad news comes in. Governor Corbett isn't in a hurry to pass his own commission's recommendations. This is the story in the Post Gazette:

Here's the nut graph as we used to call it:

In remarks after a speech to the national Waterways Symposium Downtown, Mr. Corbett said he would "take a look" at any transportation bills proposed this year, but they would battle for attention with measures on school vouchers and Marcellus Shale regulations. He said transportation fixes might have to take a back seat, especially because the Legislature's current session is only half finished.

Here is a response yesterday by Steve Bland, the Port Authority's CEO. This is from the Tribune Review:

"We're getting less funding from the state and county government now than we were seven years ago," Bland said in an interview with reporters after a Port Authority board of directors meeting Downtown. "If the state doesn't act, there will be service cuts, there will be fare increases regardless of what the union does."

Bland acknowledged the transit agency's prospects for additional help from lawmakers in Harrisburg dimmed last month when Gov. Tom Corbett said increasing transportation funding isn't among his priorities this year. Corbett said he's hesitant to increase fees on vehicles and drivers — a recommendation from his transit advisory commission — that would help boost funding by up to $2.7 billion over five years.

Port Authority officials said Sept. 23 they're facing a potential $64 million deficit next fiscal year that they characterized as a "death spiral." It could mean cuts of up to 40 percent by July — double the cuts made in March.

Read more: Port Authority CEO: Transit cuts, fare increase inevitable without state help - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_764944.html#ixzz1cZ7x7ilh

So, this is horrible news, especially if you're in one of those areas already served by only one bus. After that bus is gone, you have no other options.Yeah, you might find yourself eligible for a car loan but I hear that's a bit of scam, too.
 

But there is a plan, apparently. It was discussed in your usual stereotypical back room deals.There might be a privatized answer on the way. Privatization, by the way, means paying more for bus service not less. Unless you like your 10 dollar a day round trip bus fare from Cranberry...Here's the story:

What they've done is successfully taken struggling transit companies and brought in their expertise and a fresh, new look and made some great turnarounds," Mr. Campolongo said.

That includes New Orleans, where Veolia took over a transit system that had been decimated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. According to news accounts, the system has ordered new buses, won a federal grant for a new streetcar line and raised its bond rating since the company took over in 2008. But some have complained that service is unreliable and far less frequent than what was in place before the storm.

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11297/1184433-455.stm#ixzz1cZIUf8EM

Yeah, some complaints I'm sure. As stated in the beginning of this post, please write your state legislator and your governor.

More bad ideas from Governor Tom Corbett

The fair solution, of course, are tax hikes--targeted at the wealthy and corporations--and not kicking the public in the teeth. Our GOP Pennsylvania governor has chosen the latter decision.

Here's his latest bad idea:

EDINBORO, Pa.—Some Pennsylvania universities should consider drilling for natural gas below campus to help solve their financial problems, Gov. Tom Corbett said Thursday. The Erie Times-News reported that Corbett made the suggestion during an appearance at a meeting of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees at Edinboro University.
Corbett said six of the 14 campuses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education are located on the Marcellus Shale formation, part of a vast region of underground natural gas deposits that are currently being explored and extracted.

It should also be pointed out that fracking is actually kind of dangerous. We don't know quite how dangerous because the regulated have bought off the regulators (in both parties...has anyone gone to jail over the BP disaster...anybody?) but even the EPA has taken notice. Just a bad idea. And you know what's worse? Corbett isn't even the worst of these worst than you thought Republican governors. We might have caught a break. (See here and here.)

Related: Pennsylvania Democrats have released an ad. I think it references a "Saved by the Bell" episode. Not sure about the effectiveness of this ad but Corbett's ratings are tanking.

Something You Can Do: Tell Gov. Corbett that its not unamerican to tax profitable fracking companies.

Something you can do. But truth be told, we need federal intervention. Would be nice if the justice department or the EPA would do something.

Here's what the petition says:

Radio station WHYY in Philadelphia reported that Tom Corbett said taxing Marcellus Shale Drilling is "un-American." (http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/flexicontent/item/17611-corbett-amplifies-opposition-to-natural-gas-tax)  TellTom Corbett he needs to apologize.


Sign the Keystone Progress petition here. For background on "UnAmerican things" go to 2 Political Junkies here.

Something You Can Do: Sign All Four Public Petitions Against Corbett's Education Cuts

There are four public petitions against Corbett's drastic and massive proposed educational cuts.

This is one from the  Pennsylvania Democrats:

Stop Tuition Hikes and Property Tax Increases, Oppose Corbett's Budget

Tom Corbett's budget will likely lead to property tax increases and tuition hikes by cutting education funding for colleges and local school districts.

Sign our petition and oppose Tom Corbett's property tax increases and tuition hikes.

Petition:

I oppose Tom Corbett's attack on the middle class.

Tom Corbett's budget will likely lead to property tax increases and tuition hikes by cutting education funding for colleges and local school districts, which will badly hurt the middle class.

Corbett's budget cuts K-12 funding by over $1 billion and higher education funding by more than $600 million. These cuts will likely result in higher property taxes and tuition hikes for Pennsylvania's students. Education cuts will also compromise Pennsylvania's ability to train and educate students for jobs in the Commonwealth.

While targeting the middle class, Corbett's budget also provides giveaways to his donors. In addition to his earlier unilateral decision to provide a $200 million giveaway to corporate special interests, Corbett's budget also provides a $70 million tax break to corporations. Corbett also refused to implement a responsible severance tax on Marcellus shale gas drillers, instead cutting environmental protection funding and leaving families and local communities on the hook for damage caused by drillers.

Pennsylvanians deserve better, and I oppose Tom Corbett's budget.

# # #

Thank you for signing our petition and standing up to Tom Corbett's attack on the middle class.

This is one from MoveOn. Its short and to the point.

Pennsylvania's budget has already been cut to the bone. Corporations and the wealthy must pay their fair share for quality schools, police, health care, and other vital public services.

This is from Change Org. This is just an excerpt. Its written by a justifiably upset state college student.

But an analysis from the Harrisburg Patriot News suggests that the results may be a foregone conclusion  . A big chunk of the 30-member commission is made up of folks inclined to side with big natural gas drillers.

The group includes 13 people with ties to the gas industry and only four environmentalists. The others are state and local government officials and a geologist.

The other major trend in appointments? Campaign contributors:

Thirteen of the members contributed a total of $557,000 to Mr. Corbett's political campaigns since 2008; 12 have ties with companies whose executives or political action committees contributed another $562,000; one is the son of a $300,000 contributor. All together that amounted to just over $1.4 million."

Read the rest of this article here.

Tell Governor Corbett that cutting the budget for higher education is a disastrous move for current and future college students.

P.S.: Help promote this petitition as much as possible! Tweet, post on Facebook, and Email! Let people know how this affects them! The more this is promoted, the better the outcome - and promoting this petition is incredibly easy! 

 Here's a fourth one by SignOn:

Stop Pennsylvania's billion-dollar cut to education

By Marc Stier

To be delivered to: The Pennsylvania State House, The Pennsylvania State Senate and Governor Tom Corbett

“We urge you not to cut $1 billion from basic education in Pennsylvania and 50 percent from state universities. Before cutting funds for education, we need to end loopholes that enable natural gas drillers and corporations to escape taxation.”

Sign our petition to stop massive cuts to funding for elementary, secondary, and higher education in Pennsylvania.

This petition is sponsored by Penn ACTION (http://pennaction.org) and Education Voters PA (http://educationvoterspa.org).

One of the first petitions against Corbett's drive to destroy both public and college education

This is one of the first petitions I've seen against Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's extraordinary public school and college cuts. Some of those cuts disproportionally affect poorer schools by the way. Way to kick those poor kids when they're already down. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for an alternative democratic party budget that restores taxes to the rich. Waiting out here...

You can find the first petition here

https://secure3.convio.net/pn/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=925

Very disturbing news about Corbett's actions on the environment..

What Corbett is doing isn't that much different than what the other horrifying GOP governors are doing. Look, is it too much to ask to not be poisoned by the water I drink or the air I breathe? Is that too much? That would seem irrational.