SEPTA and other transit agencies need more money. Pa. Senate Republicans are open to it.

Senate Republicans are open to increasing state funding for Pennsylvania’s public transportation systems but have yet to determine how much they’re willing to spend, Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said this week.

He said he did not think Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed $283 million extra for transit alone based on sales-tax revenue was “achievable.” Pittman said he thinks that a transportation package should include new spending on highway infrastructure, and lawmakers would need other sources of revenue to offset the cost.

The comments come as SEPTA and other transit systems are pushing for more state money to help them operate. Transit agencies across the country are in dire fiscal straits because they have not yet recovered from ridership lost during and after the pandemic.

SEPTA projects a $240 million deficit this year, triggered by the exhaustion of its share of the federal operating aid doled out to help transit agencies weather the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public transportation is a potential sticking point in the closed door negotiations among Shapiro, House Democrats, and Senate Republicans that will shape the final budget. Opposition from Republican senators helped stop a proposal for extra sales-tax funding for transit last year.

Authority officials have said they are preparing for possible 20% service cuts in the event more money from Harrisburg is not forthcoming — but also believe they can use money from SEPTA’s reserve “service stabilization” fund to hold on until the fall.

SEPTA, the state’s largest transit system, estimates that it would initially get about $160 million under Shapiro’s proposal, which would be financed by increasing the share of state sales tax revenue earmarked for public transportation.

Pittman said he is interested in tax revenue from regulating “skill games” as a potential backstop for transit funding. Skill games are slot machine lookalikes that are currently untaxed and unregulated because they exist in a legal gray area. They have cropped up in bars, gas stations, and convenience stores around the state.

“I do think the regulation of the games of skill opens the door to having a conversation about doing something for transit and [highway] transportation infrastructure,” Pittman told reporters in Harrisburg on Tuesday during an update on state budget negotiations.

Shapiro has proposed a 42% tax on the amusements.

Pittman added that figuring out a way to tax electric vehicles, which are not subject to the gas tax, could also help with transportation funding. And he did not rule out using sales tax revenue.

“Historically never done anything on transit without also doing [highway] transportation infrastructure,” Pittman said. “And so I’ve been very clear that if we’re going to do those two, that they have to be done in tandem. I’m hard pressed to figure out where that revenue stream comes from.”