Dear Friends,
Last chance to call or e-mail your legislators about the 2001-2002
State budget!
Budget bills have passes both houses, and a small conference committee
Is hammering out a single budget that can pass by the June 30 deadline.
This is not a pretty process. A few people are deciding the direction our
State will go in, and many deals are being cut. Both the State House and
State Senate bills gave not a penny more to PAT or public transportation, but
it's not over. There appears to be serious differences among the
Republicans, and they will need some Democratic votes to pass their budget. This
Creates an opportunity, if our representatives in Harrisburg will require
constructive changes, and not let someone like Fumo of Philadelphia
just cut a deal for a few judicial appointments.
I'm not optimistic we can get the $10 million PAT needs to prevent the
Full fare increase and service cuts, but maybe we can get a few million to
Reduce the hit on the transit riders.
Regardless, the struggle continues. Save Our Transit was organized to
The single purpose of fighting for more money for PAT, and we had not
Decided whether we would continue beyond June 30. Now there is a solid
Consensus that we will continue, with a permanent structure and maybe even a more
permanent name. The federal budget will be before Congress in the
fall. There is still the need for a reliable source of transit funding. A
new governor will be elected.
Save Our Transit will meet Thursday, July 11, at 7 p.m., at the
Renaissance Center, 910 Penn Ave., downtown. (We will deal with the problem of
access to the meeting that blocked some late arrivals at the last meeting.) A
more detailed agenda will be forthcoming. Meanwhile, please mark your
calendar.
For more information, call me at 683-0237, or Steve Donahue at
361-3022; And call your legislators! Love, Jon Robison