Rep. Melissa Shusterman’s bill to raise turnback maintenance payments advances out of committee

The House committee advanced House Bill 2266 on a voice vote after adopting an amendment to adjust millage allocations and remove an automatic inflation adjustment.

Representative Melissa Shusterman, the bill’s prime sponsor, told the committee the highway transfer ("turnback") program lets municipalities take ownership of state roads that serve local traffic and respond more quickly to local needs. "This program allows for more local control over traffic flow, parking, and winter maintenance," Representative Melissa Shusterman said, urging support for an increase she and municipalities say is needed because "the current pay rate from PennDOT no longer covers their cost due to the significant rise in construction and material costs over the past several years." The bill would raise the annual maintenance payment from $4,000 per mile to $6,000 per mile, with the increase beginning two years after the year of transfer, according to the staff summary.

Staff summarized amendment A03151 as adjusting existing millage allocations and removing language related to an automatic adjustment for inflation. The amendment was requested by the administration and agreed to by the prime sponsor; the committee adopted the amendment by voice vote. After discussion, the committee reported House Bill 2266 as committed.

Committee members also discussed the limits of the current program. Chair Ed Nielsen said the state’s current payments do not always enable townships and counties to maintain roads they would take back and emphasized the bill covers those already in the program. He said the southeast delegation is concurrently working on a separate initiative to address funding for new turnbacked roads.

The committee’s action sends the amended bill forward for further consideration.