REFORM PROPOSAL FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

By Jack Wagner

Pennsylvania's infrastructure is not only aged, it is unsafe, and ill-suited for Pennsylvania to position itself as a national leader. We must make more, better, and smarter investments in infrastructure to ensure the future prosperity of our Commonwealth. My infrastructure plan includes smart growth measures for local modes of transportation, including roads, bridges and public transportation.

Pennsylvania is known as the "Keystone State." It originally earned that nickname due to its central location among the 13 colonies. Today, as the sixth most populous state and a hub for industry and agriculture, the Commonwealth remains a vital connector between the northern and southern regions and eastern and western regions of the United States.

Pennsylvania and the rest of the country face the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression. Jobs and the economy are the top issues on the minds of hard-working state residents. Despite Pennsylvania's highly skilled workforce, superior education system, and robust private sector, the Commonwealth's unemployment rate (8.9 percent as of February 2010) continues to remain high with no near-term relief. In fiscal year 2009, Pennsylvania lost more than 200,000 jobs. Allegheny and Philadelphia counties each lost 20,000 jobs, approximately 20 percent of the Commonwealth's job losses. We need to stop the job loss and create high quality, sustainable jobs.

Smart public investment in infrastructure can fix the crumbling Keystone State. It can create thousands of sustainable jobs for Pennsylvanians, directly by working on the projects and indirectly by making the materials for the projects. It can take our economy to a bold new level. Pennsylvania workers and companies can and will rebuild the Commonwealth's infrastructure!

What do we need to improve?

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania's infrastructure is outdated and decaying. Pennsylvania is falling behind other states. It is in critical need of improvement through public investment. A 2006 Report Card by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the Commonwealth a cumulative "D" grade encompassing many areas: aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, navigable waterways, roads, transit, and wastewater. A recent report by ASCE estimated that 50 percent of Pennsylvania's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. 44 percent of the major roads are in poor condition. 34 percent of the major urban highways are congested. Vehicle travel has increased by 27% across the state from 1990 to 2007.

As a safety engineer, my administration has focused on the safety of Pennsylvania residents. In 2008, the Department of the Auditor General called on the Department of Environmental Protection to tighten its oversight of dam and levee safety programs. An audit found that, as of September 2006, 595 of 793 high-hazard dams in Pennsylvania, including 74 owned by the state, were being operated without an adequate emergency action plan, placing the lives of thousands of Commonwealth residents in jeopardy should the dams experience structural failure.

Also in 2008, the Department of the Auditor General recommended that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission appoint an executive-level safety director to coordinate and oversee all aspects of roadway safety and to hold overall accountability. This recommendation was made after a compliance audit found weaknesses in the agency's collection and analysis of accident data, making it difficult to accurately assess the turnpike's safety record.

One hundred years ago, a train ride from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia took eight hours. Today, that same train ride still takes eight hours! The Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia and the Parkway East in Pittsburgh have had troublesome bottlenecks for decades that are severely detrimental to moving people and products across the Commonwealth.

Why isn't there public support for public investment?

With all of these needs and this evidence, why are we not doing more? The public does not trust public investments. Pennsylvania taxpayers have a right to be concerned. During my administration, the Department of the Auditor General, has consistently uncovered waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds at all levels of government. Pennsylvania residents are skeptical of state government wasting precious taxpayer dollars. Consider some of these stories:

• In 2003, the Port Authority of Allegheny County pitched the North Shore Connector project to the Federal Transportation Administration. The $362 million project under the Allegheny River was to extend Pittsburgh's light rail line (the "T") by 1.2 miles from downtown to the North Shore. The project costs have soared to $553 million, nearly $200 million over budget, with project work ongoing. Last year, Governor Rendell called the North Shore Connector project a "tragic mistake."

• In March 2009, the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) was fired for receiving a $150,000 no-work contract from a former state Senator. A statewide grand jury in Pittsburgh is investigating possible "pay-to-play" contracts at PTC.

• The FBI is currently investigating the PTC for questionable infrastructure spending on a six-lane widening project from Valley Forge to Norristown.

• The Delaware River Port Authority entered into risky interest-rate swaps in 2000 and 2001, and is now facing $240 million in financial liabilities. A swap is a financial contract between two parties betting on which way interest rates will move. The party that guesses correctly gets paid and the party that guesses incorrectly must pay the other party. The amount of cash being swapped is determined by the size of the debt being financed by bonds with variable interest rates. The higher the debt, the costlier the bet, clearly illustrating that a dedicated revenue source that was not used in the manner the public thought it would be used. With all of the transportation needs across Pennsylvania, these are egregious mistakes that we simply cannot afford to make. The public will not support public investment of the scale that we need to make until they can be assured that public money is being invested with transparency, accountability, competition, and performance. These are essential reforms that must happen.

My vision for infrastructure demonstrates the personal benefits of a high quality system that works for the taxpayers that it serves. The public must be assured that all public investment is conducted with transparency, competition, performance, and accountability. It is critical that we make the right decisions to invest in the right projects. Proper planning and laying all options on the table for open and honest review is paramount to succeeding. We cannot afford to squander scarce investment dollars on bad ideas, unnecessary projects, mismanaged processes, and cutting corners by building low quality infrastructure that requires frequent repair and replacement. As Governor, my infrastructure and jobs plan would include the following:

• Build effective high-speed rail systems that connect Pennsylvania cities to each other and surrounding cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Cleveland.

• Make the Pennsylvania Turnpike a model national superhighway and the first multi-fuel (natural gas, electric, gasoline, and diesel) road in the nation. I will ask Governors Christie (New Jersey) and Strickland (Ohio) to join Pennsylvania in that effort.

• Convene a blue ribbon committee to offer realistic solutions to the bottlenecks throughout Pennsylvania including the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia and the Parkway East in Pittsburgh.

• Modernize state roads and bridges by building them correctly the first time, properly maintaining them, and making them safer.

• Fix the hundreds of high-hazard Pennsylvania dams.

• Convert state government fleet vehicles, school buses, and mass transit buses to be powered by compressed natural gas and/or electric.

• Revive Pennsylvania airlines so that companies can connect here, by reviewing the tax structure compared to surrounding states.

• Consolidate water systems by tying city systems into surrounding communities and maximizing their output rather than building new systems and prioritize separation of ground water, waste water, and run off through incentives.

• Bring strong broadband service to all of Pennsylvania, not just urban and suburban areas.

• Advocate for Rails-to-Trails to create greater opportunities for walkers, runners, and bicycle enthusiasts.

• Implement proper scheduling of maintenance activities for state highways, especially interstates, at times when traffic is less.

• Ensure that fair portions of Marcellus Shale revenue go toward water treatment and road repair.

• Invest in mass transit projects that make sense.

• Develop innovative ways to market the Commonwealth on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-80, and other interstate highways.