DN Editorial: ABRIDGED LOGIC: Pa. needs infrastructure repair ... in the Legislature, too

IT'S HARD to believe, but Washington has trumped Harrisburg when it comes to bipartisan action on a serious problem.

Pennsylvania's own Sen. Robert Casey somehow convinced Democrats and Republicans in Congress to put down their weapons and act together. It didn't get many headlines, but Congress voted last year to direct 15 percent of federal highway money to pay for repairs to "structurally deficient" bridges, a bureaucratic name for a frightening problem if there ever was one.

This year Casey and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., are asking Congress to direct 25 percent of the federal money that goes to the states for bridge repair.

To use more jargon, these are "off system" bridges. They are not part of the interstate highway system, but bridges built and maintained by local governments.

Pennsylvania has the dubious distinction of leading the nation when it comes to structurally deficient bridges - 5,453 out of a national total of 22,667.

Last year, $74 million of the state's federal highway money was earmarked to repair the bridges. If the Casey-Blunt amendment passes this year, it will increase the allotment to $124 million.

Casey argued last week that something as fundamental as transportation should not become a partisan issue.

"One of the problems we have is that we have folks who bring their ideology into the debate over transportation," Casey said. "In prior years, they would surrender their ideology at the door."

Casey was referring to Washington, but it can apply to Harrisburg as well.

One of the many unfinished items left on the agenda when the state legislature took its annual 12-week summer vacation was a bill to raise motor-vehicle fees and fuel taxes to raise an additional $2.5 billion for highway and bridge repair, plus support of mass transit in the state.

The bill passed the Senate, but was blocked in the House by a group of 25 or so Republicans who are members of the tea-party brigade. They prefer a $2 billion version of the bill that, among other things, whacks at state aid to SEPTA and other transit agencies.

SEPTA gave a taste last week of what the future of transit here would look like without adequate state aid when it unveiled a plan that gradually shuts down nine of 13 regional rail lines, converts trolley to bus lines, and retires aging buses and rail cars without replacing them.

For their part, House Democrats did nothing to advance the Senate version of the bill in June. They refused to supply a single vote because they wanted to score political points against Gov. Corbett. Since Corbett wanted the bill, they were against it.

In effect, Democratic House members - including the entire Philadelphia delegation - aligned with the tea-party Republicans to halt progress on crucial funding for transportation repairs that everyone agrees are long overdue.

This partisan gamesmanship is, to put it mildly, structurally deficient. Bridges are not Republican or Democratic. They serve drivers regardless of race, creed or party.

When the legislature returns next week, House members should heed Casey's advice: Check your partisanship at the door and pass the Senate version of the bill.