Rendell pushes for increased transportation funding

    Governor Rendell continues to beat the drum for transportation funding, but his statewide media blitz has had little impact on legislators.

    Governor Rendell continues to beat the drum for transportation funding, but his statewide media blitz has had little impact on legislators. House and Senate leaders say they’re still not returning to work until mid-September.

    Rendell spent last week touring the state in a bus, visiting structurally deficient roads and bridges to make his case for increased transportation funding.

    He wants lawmakers to boost the state’s gas tax, bump up vehicle registration fees, or pass any other law filling a 500 million dollar infrastructure funding gap.

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    Appearing on WITF’s Radio Smart Talk, Rendell said taxpayers support his initiative.

    “It’s the one thing, I think, in government spending, in this era of people saying, no, don’t spend on this, don’t spend on that. It’s the one thing that I think transcends the public’s general feeling that we’re spending too much money. People don’t believe we’re spending enough to keep our infrastructure safe.”

    Rendell initially wanted lawmakers to return to Harrisburg in mid-July to pass transportation bills, then changed his stance and urged them to come back in late-August.

    Leaders in both chambers say they won’t return to the Capitol until mid-September, and some are privately predicting not a single transportation measure will be called to a vote this year.

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