Rendell's view for new revenue fraught with worry

Published: August 8, 2010

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It cannot be said of Gov. Ed Rendell that he has not explored just about every option to fill the $475 million transportation-funding pothole in the state budget.

That has ramifications statewide and locally, especially in one case, for Bradford County and other Marcellus Shale local governments.

First, the governor called a special session of the Legislature to deal with transportation after federal regulators shot down - three times - the state's ill-considered effort to establish tolls on Interstate 80, which was supposed to provide the $475 million. Then Mr. Rendell provided lawmakers with a long roster of ideas, from a slightly increased gasoline tax to higher license and vehicle registration fees, to make up the difference. The Legislature should consider all of those possibilities individually and in combination - with one glaring exception.

Recently Mr. Rendell proposed placing cameras along state highways. They would photograph the license plate of every passing vehicle, and a system would match the numbers with a statewide database to determine if drivers are insured, as required by state law.

The proposal is way over the top on a number of grounds.

First is that it throws the Fourth Amendment under the bus. That constitutional provision has precluded unreasonable searches by the government for more than 220 years. Usually, it means that police or other state officials must have verifiable probable cause in order to conduct the sort of investigation that the governor would trigger, randomly, with surveillance cameras. It is a leap, rather than a mere step, down a slippery slope.

As a general policy matter, state law regarding enforcement is geared toward public safety rather than revenue generation. In this case, the governor is candid that the purpose of the proposal is to generate revenue. Police already are empowered to cite uninsured drivers.

And insurance experts have said that such a system would be far more complicated and far less accurate than the governor believes, which inevitably would lead to a large number of inaccurate citations and resulting litigation.

Mr. Rendell should abandon the proposal.

Second, while the state wrangles during the special session to find revenue, including imposing a severance tax on the natural gas industry - which, for Bradford County, means for gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale - it must not rob local government of a fair share of the new revenue. And the tax rate itself must be reasonable, and not a greedy fleecing of the gas industry.

Legislators must take the position that the lion's share of any such reasonable new tax revenue must come back to the county and the towns that face impacts and expenses related to the gas industry.

There is a concern in certain circles that the governor and his administration do not see it that way and will grab perhaps all of any such tax money to help solve statewide revenue problems live with the state diverting a portion of the money to the general fund, but most of the money must remain here.

Reps. Tina Pickett, Matt Baker and Sen. Gene Yaw must understand this need and get vigorously involved in protecting this county's best interests. So far, that level of involvement has not been visible publicly. That's a problem our representatives immediately must remedy.

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