Pennsylvania Turnpike Lease: Two years of deliberation
An anonymous poster remarks that "we don't want to rush into anything (like leasing the Turnpike)", and compares it to the rush to pass Act 44. He/she is correct about Act 44, passed within two weeks of its first introduction without public hearing.
However, Thursday will mark the second anniversary of my testimony in which the Commonwealth Foundation first proposed a lease of the Turnpike. Since that time, the Commonwealth Foundation has testified at 4 legislative committee hearings on leasing the Turnpike; hosted 2 luncheon discussions with lawmakers and the public on leasing the Turnpike; released a full length report on public private partnerships and a policy brief on the Turnpike lease; offered numerous op-eds and analysis of the Turnpike lease; launched a website compiling facts about the lease deal; appeared on 3 television programs discussing the Turnpike lease and had 4 programs of The BOX dedicated to discussing the lease deal.
And that's just our work. The media has vetted this story extensively, there have been other legislative hearings on the lease at which we did not testify, and other analysis (in particular from the Reason Foundation) has been produced on the lease deal. No one could possibly be accused of "rushing into" the Turnpike lease. Ironically, delaying the vote on a lease leaves Act 44—which was "rushed into" and has proven to be among the worst pieces of legislation ever enacted—on the books.
Commonwealth Foundation's Turnpike Lease Timeline
- October 28, 2004: Chicago Skyway lease finalized.
- July 2005 – Sept 2006: Transportation Funding and Reform Commission holds hearings, meetings to lay out transportation funding options.
- April 12, 2006: Indiana Toll Road lease finalized.
- Sept 18, 2006: Commonwealth Foundation first proposes Turnpike lease: Nathan Benefield testifies before Transportation Funding and Reform Commission.
- Nov 13, 2006: Transportation Funding and Reform Commission releases their final report, recommends "aggressively pursuing" public private partnerships, and suggests option of Turnpike lease.
- November 15, 2006: Commonwealth Foundation luncheon on Public-Private Partnerships in Pennsylvania
- Dec 6, 2006: Governor Rendell announces request for "expressions of interest" to lease PA Turnpike
- Dec 12, 2006: Commonwealth Foundation Commentary: Turnpike Lease is Win-Win for Taxpayers, Lawmakers. Commonwealth Foundation produces numerous commentaries, news releases, policy points between December 2006 and September 2008.
- January 13, 2007: The BOX Program on leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike
- March 6, 2007: Commonwealth Foundation releases study on transportation public private partnerships: The Emerging Paradigm: Financing and Managing Pennsylvania's Transportation Infrastructure and Mass Transit
- March 20, 2007: Senate hearing on leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Commonwealth Foundation president Matthew Brouillette testifies on benefits
- March 21, 2007: Reason Foundation releases Leasing State Toll Roads: Frequently Asked Questions.
- May 21, 2007: Morgan Stanley releases preliminary report of state-commissioned study, comparing Turnpike lease to other options.
- April 8, 2007: Matt Brouillette discuss Turnpike lease on PA Newsmakers.
- June 12, 2007: Governor Rendell releases "expressions of interest" to legislative leaders.
- June 21, 2007: Reason Foundation releases Leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike: A Response to Critics of Gov. Rendell's Plan
- September 5, 2007: Governor Rendell announces "request for qualifications" for potential operators of Turnpike.
- September 22, 2007: The BOX Program discussion of Turnpike lease
- October 1, 2007: Requests for Qualifications submitted, made available to public on request
- February 25, 2008: Matt Brouillette on WFMZ TV discussing Turnpike Lease
- March 19, 2008: Nathan Benefield testifies before House Committee on Turnpike lease.
- April 10, 2008: Reason Report: Pennsylvania Turnpike Is One of the Country's Least Cost-Efficient Toll Roads
- April 17, 2008: Terms of lease announced
- May 8, 2008: Matt Brouillette discusses Turnpike lease on SmartTalk
- May 12, 2008: Bids submitted, top 2 within 10% of each other, required to give one week to resubmit
- May 19, 2008: Winning lease bid announced, contract made available for public inspection, summaries made available
- May 26, 2008: Commonwealth Foundation Report: Leasing the Turnpike: Questions and Answers
- May 31, 2008: TheBOX program on Leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike
- June 5, 2008: Evans-Cappelli lease bill introduced
- June 10, 2008: Commonwealth Foundation hosts luncheon on Turnpike lease featuring Rendell Administration
- June 23, 2008: TurnpikeFacts.com launched, Commonwealth Foundation compilation of information about Turnpike lease
- June 27, 2008: Matt Brouillette and Rick Dreyfuss testify about financial assumptions surrounding Turnpike lease
- August 6, 2008: Commonwealth Foundation releases financial comparison of Turnpike Lease vs. Turnpike contributions to state under current law
- September 13, 2008: The BOX Program on leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike
6 comments:
Polls conducted by Quinnipiac show that the majority of taxpayers within the Commonwealth “DO NOT” support leasing our turnpike. In addition, approximately the same percentage of taxpayers opposed tolling I-80. With that said, the vetting process, no matter how extensive you claim it has been, has not changed the publics view. Assuming that the General Assembly’s job is to work on behalf of the taxpayers, a decision to lease our turnpike cannot be taken slow enough, especially in our current economic climate. People (this foundation) have been so blinded by their arrogance to shrink/reduce the size of government, they fail to realize that the majority of taxpayers do not support leasing the states turnpike.
The polling questions are incomplete. When the public is informed of the options (as opposed to, "Do you want to pay tolls or not?"), they embrace the lease over higher gas taxes, vehicle fees and bonded debt. (see http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/newsreleases/poll-informed-voters-support-turnpike-lease)
Funny! You really think the taxpayers of this Commonwealth want to sell their infrastructure to a foreign country? Give me a break...Especially in our current economic state, it seems logical to hold-on to our assets.
Most people understand the difference between a sale and a lease. Furthermore, an asset is only an asset if you use it as such. Under the control of the PTC, it is a cash cow for political patrons. Under a lease, it is way to pay for our roads, highways and bridges without raising taxes or going into more bonded debt. Bringing in new management of this asset is precisely what we are hoping to do so we can start getting a return on that investment.
Control of daily revenues for 75 years is more than your average lease (most people can understand this). At any rate, I am sure the taxpayers of this Commonwealth (a majority) would be opposed to “leasing” the turnpike to a foreign company. Can an invested, approx., $8-9B last for 75 years? This seems unreasonable. Is $12.8B a fair price? This seems unlikely? With the lease the state would not just be” bringing in new management”; it would be turning over total control of handling the toll money. A lease would send profits overseas; cut commonwealth jobs; and be quite embarrassing (considering the offered price) to the state.
Anonymous:
We won't waste your time with showing you the numbers since you don't bother to read them anyway. But if the deal were as bad as you *think* it is or it *seems*, then we wouldn't be for it either.
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