Debates over unresolved elements of the state government’s new $44.45 billion budget — including more than $600 million for four state-affiliated universities’ in-state tuition discounts, $100 million in “level-up” funding for poor school districts, and more — have obscured significant progress ensured by the completed parts of the budget.
One major achievement is the beginning of the end of using money designated for transportation improvements to fund state police.
When drivers refuel their vehicles, they expect the nation’s second-highest fuel taxes to go to highway and bridge maintenance and improvements — the purpose of the taxes.
But the state government regularly has siphoned away hundreds of millions of dollars of that revenue for state police. The amount gradually has declined from the record during the 2016-2017 fiscal year, when more than $800 million from the Motor License Fund went to state police. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year that ended June 30, transportation taxes and fees provided $500 million of the state police $1.4 billion budget.
The new budget reduces that funding to
$375 million, the first step of a plan to reduce it by another $125 million in each of the next three years until it reaches zero.
In each of those years, without a tax increase, $125 million will be added to PennDOT’s road and bridge programs, as intended by the tax laws.
Because Pennsylvania places more responsibility on its transportation department than do most other states, PennDOT is responsible directly for about 41,000 miles of state and local roads, and 25,400 bridges. Though New York geographically is about 20% larger than Pennsylvania, for example, the state highway department is responsible for just over 15,000 miles of roadways.
Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to draw money from general state revenue and place it in a secure fund for state police that may not be used for any other purpose. That might well force legislators to make difficult decisions about spending, and it might create some accountability and transparency issues regarding a segregated account.
But it is superior to misusing hundreds of millions of dollars that are sorely needed for their intended purpose.
— Tribune News Service
