(Credit: SEPTA)
The Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday passed a $47.6 billion state budget for 2025-26 and a $1.2 billion transportation plan, drawing criticism from Democrats.
The budget, which is roughly $3 billion less than the Pennsylvania House’s proposal, does not use sales tax revenue to fund public transit, including SEPTA, as the governor and Democratic lawmakers have wanted.
The Republican-backed transportation funding plan, which was opposed by Senate Democrats, now returns to the Democratic-controlled House where it is expected to face a tough road ahead.
The transportation plan would pull money from the state’s $2.2 billion Public Transportation Trust Fund, which is designated for capital projects, and revenue from taxing certain gaming to fund both mass transit operations and road work in rural areas over the next two years.
SEPTA, which serves about 700,000 riders across Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey daily, faces a $213 million operating deficit and has warned that a first round of service cuts would be enacted without a funding plan signed by the governor by Thursday. Cuts will start later this month and even deeper cuts will set in come 2026.
SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer initially expressed confusion about the bill’s funding sources after “further discussions with Senate Republican staff.” However, he later said the bill “still appears to be a flex of sorely needed capital dollars to operating funds” and that he and his staff were in talks with leaders to understand the bill’s full impact, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer and Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
“We expect to remain in close contact with all parties in this negotiation as we continue to await a solution that will provide adequate, sustainable funding for SEPTA’s future,” Sauer said in a statement.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat from Bucks County, criticized the proposal.
The lawmaker called the Republican plan a “cynical shell game” that takes money from a capital account to use for transit agencies’ operating expenses.
“This cynical exercise does absolutely nothing to solve SEPTA’s funding shortfall,” Santarsiero said. “Worse, the Republican plan requires SEPTA to increase fares every two years from now until the end of time. The state has a responsibility to fund mass transit across the state. The Senate Republican plan is a complete shirking of that responsibility.”
State Sen. Frank Farry, a Republican representing Bucks County, has said he is a supporter of SEPTA and funding for it. He defended the Senate’s plan.
“The stresses that have been needlessly put on students, families, riders and workers was unnecessary and entirely avoidable,” Farry said. “Our plan delivers the funding our transit agencies need, especially SEPTA, while holding them accountable and ensuring safer operations, all without adding to our structural deficit.”
Farry said the Senate’s measure “matches and exceeds” Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal by providing $292.5 million for mass transit this year and another $300 million in fiscal year 2026-2027.
Farry has proposed using tax revenue from skilled games to create a long-term, recurring revenue source for transit agencies, a plan he believes is gaining momentum.
If approved, he said, the skilled games revenue will be ready to fund public transit within two years, allowing use of the Public Transportation Trust Fund to end.
The Senate’s transportation plan also includes provisions to improve safety on public transit, including as sentencing enhancements for crime near or at transit agency property and making it a felony to interfere with vehicle operators.
Farry authored legislation to increase penalties for assaulting transit workers after a SEPTA bus operator was murdered.
In addition to funding and safety previsions, the bill would impose new audit requirements on SEPTA and put in place new system performance criteria. It also allows SEPTA to look into new advertising revenue options, Farry said.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Westmoreland, said the bill supports both transit and road projects without impacting the state’s general fund.
“There is a value in supporting both road projects and transit, and we have taken a substantial step to unleash those dollars to help all 67 counties across Pennsylvania,” Pittman said.
Democrats, including Gov. Shapiro and House leadership, have opposition to the Senate’s transportation bill.
"While real people are scrambling to make plans to get to work, school, appointments, and more as drastic cuts to transit services loom, Senate Republicans are proposing that we raid capital funds for a two-year transit fix that will put us in this exact same position two years from now,” said Democratic Leader Sen. Jay Costa and Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vince Hughes in a joint statement.
They also criticized a provision that would require fare increases indexed to inflation.
The bill heads back to the House where Democratic leaders indicated they will oppose it.
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, a Republican from the western part of the state, said that if Shapiro and House Democrats reject the proposal, they would be responsible for holding up the funding.
While SEPTA and Pittsburgh Regional Transit are the two biggest transit agencies in need of state funding, Shapiro’s office has pointed out that dozens of smaller transit agencies, including in rural areas, and businesses that work with transit agencies will benefit from more funding. SEPTA officials have noted to the many contractors across the state it works with each year.
“This isn’t just a Philadelphia issue or a Pittsburgh issue — it’s a Pennsylvania issue. It’s about that mom trying to get home to her child, that student trying to get to class, and that bus driver working hard to provide for their family. We need long-term, recurring funding for SEPTA and for every transit agency in our commonwealth,” Shapiro told reporters on Sunday.
The debate over a state spending plan is not limited to transit.
The Senate’s budget proposal also keeps education funding flat at the same rate as the 2024-2025 budget, while Shapiro and Democratic lawmakers want an increase.
