OOIDA Call to Action - Pennsylvania members

November 22, 2006

Heads up, Pennsylvania truckers and hold on to your hats – this ride could get bumpy.

One of the biggest cons of this new century is quickly unfolding in Harrisburg. And this is a con that could get very deep into your pocket as well as the pockets of many truckers across the nation for a long, long time.

Just days ago, and conveniently just after Election Day, Gov. Ed Rendell announced the state needs $1.7 billion more per year to improve the state’s roads and bridges. To generate the money, his highway commission is suggesting increases in fuel taxes of 11.5 cents per gallon and a host of other fees that are certain to produce outrage among citizens across the state.

But don’t despair. Gov. Rendell, the same governor that diverted more than $400 million in highway funds last year to mass transit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, has a plan to save the taxpayers. The governor, House Speaker John Perzel and Transportation Committee Chairman Rick Geist plan to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Apparently the discussions have been going on for quite a while. All the familiar names – Macquaire, Goldman Sachs – are surfacing.

Rep. Rick Geist, who has long drooled over the chance to make I-80 a toll road, is quoted in the Valley Independent as saying “more than a dozen other Pennsylvania highways are candidates for public-private partnerships.” Geist says the Pike lease could bring $30 billion.

This effort is very much on the fast track. Geist is pushing to make a 75-year lease of the Pike House Bill 1 when lawmakers convene Jan. 2.

It’s time to start making some noise about this and to let everyone in Pennsylvania know what’s going on.

Starting next week we will be contacting news outlets around the state to register opposition. This is important. Thanks for your support and have a Happy Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for and only now and then an annoyance that we wish we could smash like a bug.

– OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer