Philadelphia City Council members meet in Harrisburg to discuss Septa funding
Photo: PHL City Council
A group of Philadelphia City Council members went to Harrisburg to lobby lawmakers for public transportation funding. We’ll learn soon whether or not it worked.
By Denise Clay-Murray
At some time or another, we have all gone on a field trip.
Before school district budgets were cut to the point where children are studying history from books that say that George Bush — the father, not the son — is the president, field trips were a pretty common practice.
You’d fill a bus with kids, teachers, and parent chaperones who would up seeing a different side of their kids by the end of the day, and you’d go somewhere like the Franklin Institute, Independence Mall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, or the Kimmel Center.
Field trips aren’t usually something you do as an adult. That is, unless you’re a group of Philadelphia City Council members who don’t want the public transit that helps the city run to shut down.
Then, you take a field trip to Harrisburg to lobby the lawmakers who might be able to help you with that.
Much of Philadelphia City Council got on a bus and went to Harrisburg on Monday to talk to their counterparts in the state legislature about including enough money for SEPTA to not have to cut service to the bone in this year’s state budget.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson took nine council members — Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Transportation Committee chair Mike Driscoll, and Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier, Curtis Jones, Quetcy Lozada, Anthony Phillips, Rue Landau, Nina Ahmad, Jim Harrity, and Brian O’Neill.
(You know it’s a big deal when O’Neill is involved. He’s the longest standing member of Council and Council’s lone Republican. When you have to talk with a lot of Republicans, it’s best to have one of their own along with the ride.)
There’s still time for them to do this because the state budget, which was due on June 30 to be ready to go into effect on July 1, is not ready yet. Folks on both sides of the aisle are negotiating to finish the budget and get their priorities contained within it.
In case you missed it, if SEPTA doesn’t get enough money to close a $213 million hole in its 2026 fiscal year budget, it’s going to implement the “Doomsday Budget” that it passed a week ago. This budget includes such things as the elimination of 50 bus lines, and the shutting down of all service by 9 p.m. daily.
So, the Councilmembers talked to people on both sides of the aisle. They talked to House speaker Joanna McClinton, and House appropriations chair Jordan Harris. They talked to Gov. Josh Shapiro. They talked to the House and Senate’s Republican leadership.
They did what they had to do to keep the system running, and Johnson was optimistic about their chances for success, said Vincent Thompson, Johnson’s Director of Communications.
“Council President Johnson was very happy with the trip that they made to Harrisburg,” he said. “The councilmembers that went up to Harrisburg were able to give their thoughts about the importance of funding SEPTA. So now, we wait for the final budget with everyone else.”
And that’s the hardest part, to be honest. You have members of the legislature that don’t understand why public transit is important for the Commonwealth’s economy. In fact, sometimes folks have to remind Gov. Shapiro why it’s important.
But if these councilmembers can be optimistic enough to think that paying folks a call to talk about why funding mass transit is important, I guess I can too.
Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, The Philadelphia Sunday SUN, the author’s organization, committee or other group or individual.
Leave a Comment