- 6/6/2025
On Thursday, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) held a press briefing about state budget investments in mass transit.
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NewsTranscript
00:00for your visit and thank you for all gathering here at Lehigh Valley Hechtown
00:04Oaks. This is one of several hospitals and care sites for Lehigh Valley Health
00:09Network which is now part of Jefferson where both patients and providers
00:13utilize public transit. Jefferson is nationally ranked as one of the top 15
00:19non-for-profit health care systems in the country and the largest health care
00:22provider in Greater Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley. We have 65,000 colleagues
00:28including 20,000 here in the Lehigh Valley region. There's no question public
00:33transit is sometimes thousand public transit is sometimes something
00:39thousands of our providers, patients, and others depend on every day to receive
00:45high quality care. Funding for public transit is vital here and throughout
00:50eastern Pennsylvania as it fuels our colleagues ability to get to work, reduces
00:55barriers for individuals and families who obtain care life-saving care. When you
01:00stand outside the doors of one of our hospitals you're likely to see someone
01:04step out of Atlanta bus. A clinician who's coming here prefers not to drive their
01:09vehicle, a cancer patient too weak to drive, a community member who can't afford a
01:14ride share to get a specialist appointment. Reliable transportation is a key
01:19social determinant of health and transportation should never be a barrier
01:23for somebody to to have be able to have access to good health. Jefferson we are
01:30striving to be the most accessible health system in the country and public
01:36transportation is an important part of that. We can only accomplish this through
01:41by ensuring colleagues and our patients have easy affordable transit and options
01:46to our care sites. Thank you. Now my honor to introduce my friend and a fierce
01:51champion of health care and essential transit options governor the great
01:55governor Josh Shapiro. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Joe thank you very much and
02:03it's great to be here at the Lehigh Valley Health Network and a wonderful example of
02:08Jefferson's reach here in the Lehigh Valley all across our Commonwealth and I
02:14want to just say a word about Joe and his team. They not only deliver outstanding
02:20quality health care here in the Lehigh Valley and across our Commonwealth but
02:25they're also civic leaders and business leaders and they give a damn about the
02:30community that they are in and that is the spirit within which Joe and I get the
02:35chance to work together on a whole host of issues. Quite literally yesterday he was in my
02:41conference room in my Philadelphia office working on another issue that would have
02:46important regional impact. I share that with you because that provides a backdrop
02:51some context for why we gather here today in a hot parking lot in the Lehigh Valley
02:56in front of a couple of Atlanta buses at this wonderful health care facility
03:02because the good folks here at Jefferson and Joe certainly understand how all of
03:08this fits together. If you can't get where you're going the economy can't hum
03:14along. If you can't get where you're going your kids won't have as much time
03:18with their parents. If you can't get where you're going you're going to be less
03:22productive in your daily lives and so today we're here to make sure that
03:26Pennsylvanians have the ability to get where they need to go. You know it wasn't too
03:31long ago in a more rural part of Pennsylvania in Lancaster County I was opening up a new
03:37bridge the Rife Run bridge there. More rural community than where we find ourselves here
03:43today and we had concluded the event and I spoke to a mom who was there who came over
03:48to thank me for making sure we got that bridge reopened. It allowed her to get home
03:52to her kids more quickly. It allowed her to get to work more quickly and she just
03:57wanted to come out and say thank you for the fact that our administration got that
04:00done. By the way fun fact I'm proud of the fact that we've repaired more bridges than any other
04:07state in the entire country right here in Pennsylvania. That mom was grateful because
04:16of the investments we've made in infrastructure here in Pennsylvania. There are moms here in
04:22the Lehigh Valley that need to get to work need to get home to their kids need to be able to get here
04:27to the Lehigh Valley Health Network either for work or if God forbid they've got a health ailment that
04:32needs to get addressed. This mom here in the Lehigh Valley matters just as much as that mom in Lancaster
04:40County and it's time our Commonwealth invest in all of the above when it comes to infrastructure. I'm here
04:48today to talk about our commitment to investing in mass transit and to talk about the dire consequences in
04:55the Lehigh Valley if we don't. Lanta does a great job getting people moving around the valley and
05:02particularly as the valley is growing and we're bringing more and more economic development to this
05:07region with the partnership of so many others we need more investment in mass transit not less. I have
05:14proposed for the last three years a funding stream that would go directly to mass transit ensuring that
05:20our buses here and our trains and trolleys and subways elsewhere would have adequate funding to be able
05:26to get that mom where she needs to go that student that employee you name it and that funding has been
05:32passed three times by the House of Representatives. We're joined today by several members of your
05:39delegation who you're going to hear from in a few moments. Unfortunately each time the House passed that
05:45legislation which would fully fund mass transit here Atlanta and all across Pennsylvania. He went over
05:52to the Senate and notwithstanding the pleas of Senator Miller and Senator Boscola the Senate never brought
05:58it up. Last year I flexed some funding to allow our mass transit agencies to be able to continue to June 30th of
06:06this year but there's no more quick fixes. There's no more ways around it. It's time for the legislature and
06:12in particular the Senate of Pennsylvania to act and to fund our mass transit to fund it for those moms
06:18that need to get home for their kids to fund it for our businesses that rely on mass transit. Mass transit
06:26has a 5.4 billion dollar that's a billion dollar economic impact here in the valley and all across
06:33Pennsylvania. It is good business decision to invest in mass transit. It's good business decision to make
06:41sure folks have the buses they need to get where they need to go. My proposal is still on the table.
06:49The House is prepared to pass it again. It's time for the Senate to pass it as well. They've asked me
06:55if I would consider marrying up funding for roads and bridges with it. Of course we want to do more
07:01funding for roads and bridges. They've asked us to consider all kinds of different funding streams for
07:06it and I've said yes to each and every one of them. The time for delay and inaction is over. The time
07:11for action is now. CEOs from all across Pennsylvania are calling on the Senate of Pennsylvania to act
07:19and to pass mass transit funding. This is a smart wise business decision and it's time to get it done.
07:26If we don't get it done now, Atlanta is going to have to cut at least one of the routes that serves
07:31this hospital. They'll have a 20 percent cut in their service. It'll be devastating for communities
07:37all across Pennsylvania. I know that Secretary Carroll who leads PennDOT understands this. You'll
07:44hear from him in a moment and I know he works with a network of leaders from mass transit all across
07:50Pennsylvania including Owen O'Neill from right here in Atlanta. He knows how devastating it will be
07:56if the legislature doesn't step up. The good news is here in the Lehigh Valley you are blessed with a
08:02delegation that understands this, that understands the connection between what happens in our centers
08:09of commerce like this hospital behind us and the need to fund mass transit. And so I want to invite
08:15up Owen to talk a little bit more about the effect on Lanta. I want to thank your delegation for being
08:21here today, for being prepared to vote yes and I want to encourage all lawmakers to come to the table
08:27to get this funding for mass transit done. This is critically important for business,
08:31it's critically important for Pennsylvania. Owen, the floor is yours. Thank you.
08:42Good morning. I just want to take one quick minute just to introduce someone who's here
08:49with us today, Jesse Santiago. I think he might be sitting on the bus actually, or is Jesse around?
08:53Jesse is one of our Lanta bus operators, so there he is. And he's also the current president of the
08:59Amalgamated Transit Union Local 956, which represents Lanta bus operators and maintenance employees.
09:04Jesse, come on up here while Owen stalking.
09:10All right. Yeah, and it's people like Jesse who get all those people to work every day and to their
09:14medical appointments. So I would like to thank Governor Shapiro and Secretary Carroll for being here today,
09:19and especially thank the Governor for his leadership and advocacy for a transit funding solution. For the
09:25third year in a row, the Governor has put forth a funding solution for public transportation service
09:29throughout Pennsylvania, and I want to emphasize throughout. Transit service covers every corner
09:34of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, and this funding proposal will help all of them. Here in the Lehigh Valley,
09:40transit is provided by Lanta. We operate fixed-route bus and door-to-door paratransit service,
09:45carrying roughly 4.5 million passenger trips annually. While ridership figures are important,
09:50there are some other key indicators that shape our reality, Atlanta, every day.
09:55Since 2010, the Lehigh Valley has grown by 50,000 people, 65,000 jobs, 70% growth in GDP,
10:02and 48 million square feet of warehouse and industrial space. Continuing to provide effective
10:08and convenient transit service in that environment has been challenging, and here in Atlanta, we have tried
10:12to keep up. But if we don't act on the Governor's funding proposal, not only will we not keep pace,
10:18but we will be forced to drastically reduce service and go backwards at the worst possible time for
10:23our region and the Commonwealth. These cuts could include 20% service reductions this year,
10:28and an additional 20 to 30% next year. Service restrictions on ADA paratransit and shared ride
10:34services, and fair increases of up to 30% on all services. At an event last year in the Lehigh Valley,
10:40rolling out the statewide economic development strategy, Governor Shapiro said that the state's
10:45strategy is, quote, betting heavily on continued economic growth in the Lehigh Valley. But that
10:50would be a losing bet if people can't get to the jobs that we are looking to create. In a recent survey,
10:55we asked our riders to name all of the purposes for which they use Lanta service, and the most common
11:00answer was work. 75% of Lanta riders said they use our transit system to get back and forth to work.
11:06Another 21% said they use it to get back and forth to school. And without transit, that stops.
11:12While much of Lanta service area is characterized by urban centers and densifying suburbs,
11:17we also serve rural areas in northern Northampton and Lehigh counties. And many people don't know this,
11:24but Lanta also runs the transit service in Carbon County. We can tell you firsthand that transit service
11:29is just as important, if not more important, in the rural areas of our region than it is in the urban
11:34ones. From an economic standpoint, transit has played a key role in Carbon County over the past
11:38two years through special services that connected satellite parking locations with downtown Jim
11:44Thorpe during fall peak period during fall foliage weekends. Last fall, those routes carried 4,000
11:50visitors to Jim Thorpe, enhancing the visitor experience and allowing Carbon County to continue to build on
11:55the tourism industry, which is a key component of their economic strategy. And beyond economic benefits,
12:01our bus and paratransit services in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties connect people
12:06with medical appointments, dialysis, chemotherapy, mental health services, groceries and farmers markets,
12:12and opportunities for socialization, which are so important for seniors, persons with disabilities,
12:17or persons who experience isolation. I noted earlier that we carry 4.5 million people every year.
12:23We focus a lot on the total ridership number, but I always remind myself that each one of those rides
12:28is an individual with a unique story, make a unique trip, and each one of them would not have made that
12:34trip if not for transit. On behalf of Lanta and the Lanta Board of Directors, we strongly encourage
12:39the support of the governor's transit funding funding proposal. It would help transit riders and
12:44communities right here in the Lehigh Valley. I also want to thank again the governor for his leadership
12:50on this issue. And with that, it's my pleasure to introduce PennDOT Secretary, Mike Carroll.
12:54Mike Carroll Good morning, everybody. I'm Mike Carroll, the PennDOT Secretary.
13:05I'm thrilled to be here today with Governor Shapiro and the Atlanta friends and
13:09leaders from across the Lehigh Valley. And I'll start my remarks with a simple question.
13:14Which of your children is your favorite? I'll talk about two of PennDOT's children today.
13:22We'll come back to that question in just a minute. Pennsylvania's economic growth relies on our
13:27ability to build out a transportation network that puts our tradespeople to work, strengthens our
13:34businesses, and improves lives across this commonwealth. In the first two years of the governor's
13:39administration, we delivered over 380 million dollars in new funding for roads and bridges
13:45across Pennsylvania. In 2003, as the governor said, Pennsylvania repaired more poor conditioned bridges
13:51than any state in the nation. And PennDOT and our industry partners repaired thousands and thousands of
13:58miles of roadway across Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania. But, and here's the but, we must meet
14:04everyone's needs. To grow our economy and our communities, our infrastructure and public transit
14:11systems must both be properly funded. It's a critical service, as Owen just said.
14:18On average, 65 percent of PAs fixed route users say they have no other option to get where they need to
14:25go. Nearly three quarters of the people using Lanta have no other option. That's why the governor's budget
14:32makes it an unprecedented investment in mass transit across Pennsylvania's 67 counties. We have been
14:39here before. The governor proposed this solution last year. And as the governor said, the House acted
14:44on the proposal three separate times. Unfortunately, the Senate did not. So Governor Shapiro and our
14:51Democratic legislators secured last June an 80 million dollar stopgap that bought us the time necessary to
14:58get to get to this June 30th. This year, the governor again proposed the first significant transit investment
15:04in over a decade. Nearly 300 million dollars for transit systems across Pennsylvania, every county.
15:12We need our legislature and the Senate to meet Pennsylvania's current and future transit needs,
15:18just like we improve roads and bridges in every community. To give an idea of transit in Pennsylvania,
15:25last year, Pennsylvania's transit agencies provided over 260 million fixed route trips, 260 million.
15:3325 million of those were senior trips, including millions and millions of trips in rural Pennsylvania.
15:39And it has been said we have shared ride in every county in this commonwealth, including the smallest
15:43counties of the small. Sullivan and Forest counties with three and four thousand people have transit.
15:50They need the funding just as Lanta does. No matter the service type, transit providers are
15:55dealing with workforce challenges as well as and rising costs. So this investment offered by the
16:00governor would help stabilize and advance service because otherwise the choices are to raise fares
16:08or cut services or both. Shared ride supports our seniors quality of life and powers our economy.
16:15Fixed routes often get people to work and school. It provides opportunities across the board,
16:21no matter where you live. I cannot overstate the Shapiro administration's commitment to
16:25Pennsylvanians and that includes safe, reliable public transit. I'm proud to stand here today and
16:32advocate for this proposal and include transit funding in this year's budget. And by the way,
16:38the question I asked earlier of which of your children is your favorite? Of course,
16:42we all know the answer to that question. All of them. Just as it is for PennDOT and our modes of
16:48transportation. Governor, thank you for your leadership. Thank you to everyone for being
16:52here today. I'm happy to invite a person who needs no invitation in the Lehigh Valley,
16:56Tony Ioanelli, to come to the podium. Tony.
16:58Good job. Thanks. Go get him, Tony.
17:04Let me get my speech out, Governor, very quickly.
17:06Oh, boy. Tony's wearing my blazer here today.
17:10You know, I tell people this is my 250, 250 blazer, but I literally
17:15bought this in Florida at a used clothing store for $2.50. So I just thought I'd let it out there.
17:20All right.
17:22I'm also thinking I lost almost over 50 pounds. And I look at you, you look amazing.
17:26Let's stay with the notes. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.
17:29All right. Real quick. I want to start with Owen. Real quickly, when I ran the business improvement
17:33district in Allentown years ago, I got involved with Lanta. And at that time, Lanta was moving people
17:39blocks. And I mean, a lot of blocks, but blocks. And now you're moving people miles. And it's because
17:45we've had this amazing expansion in the Lehigh Valley. And I thought to myself also, as I was
17:50driving up in this beautiful building and what Dr. Cashone talked about, that this is opportunity.
17:55And people, there are many people that need and want opportunity. They want to employ families.
18:00They want to lift families up. And governor, this commitment is going to allow opportunity
18:05to meet need where people can find their jobs, get to their jobs and create legacies for their
18:11family. So we applaud this amazing effort. It's unbelievable. I also want to say quickly,
18:16before I go, governor, I've been here today, by the way, is my 27th anniversary at the chamber. So,
18:22but I've been here for a long time and I've never, ever seen a governor yet. And I loved all of them,
18:28but I've been here as much as you have. So I think the business community appreciates what you're doing.
18:34I think we appreciate the fact that we need, let's talk about a win-win.
18:38We need people. We need employees. Employees need opportunity. And this helps to develop that match.
18:43Thank you, governor. Thank you, Tony. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
18:48I want to invite Nancy up to say a few words. Come on up, Nancy. Thank you.
18:53Thank you very much. You too. You too.
18:58Well, good morning, everyone. I see you're all warm and hot.
19:02On behalf of Workforce Board, Leah Valley, and PA CareerLink System, which is your workforce system,
19:08I'm here today to speak on behalf of job seekers, as well as employers across our region who are
19:14struggling to find skilled and available talent. Reliable public transportation is not just about
19:21mobility. It's really about economic connections. It connects workers to jobs, students to training,
19:29and parents to childcare. But just as importantly, it connects businesses to the workforce they need
19:36to grow. Governor Shapiro gets that. He gets it. He has prioritized it rebuilding the infrastructure
19:44that keeps Pennsylvania moving forward. And he has proposed the largest funding for public
19:50transportation in over a decade. Yippee. Yippee.
19:55These investments recognize that when we can link Pennsylvania workers to Pennsylvania business,
20:01we all thrive. In our cities and boroughs and rural communities alike, many Leah Valley residents
20:09rely on public transportation to get to their jobs. And if those systems fail, our workforce shrinks.
20:15It's shrinking. Not because people don't want to work, which sometimes we all think, but because they
20:21can't get there. They can't get there. Recently, we celebrated a local veteran who was able to find
20:27employment. When he began working with us, he had no driver's license. He had no car and no steady income.
20:33But he was able to receive an offer, a job offer, because he had skills. But the only reason he could say yes to that job,
20:40was because he could catch a bus to get to it. We don't appreciate that, because we get in our cars and go.
20:50Another participant trying to complete HVAC training, which we really need in the Leah Valley,
20:55at one of our two community colleges, his car broke down and was only able to stay in the program
21:00because of public transit. He got there every day. We often hear from single parents who take two or even
21:06three buses to drop their kids off at daycare before heading to work. They have to negotiate the
21:13system, often from rural locations and through the multiple transfer locations. I don't think I could
21:19even do that. I'm Polish. They aren't exceptions. They're examples of what's at risk. Without strong
21:26investments and mass transit, these stories don't end in success. They end in lost opportunities
21:33for individuals and employers and for our economy. Governor Shapiro's latest budget proposal is the
21:40largest such proposal in over a decade. We can't expect business to grow with their employees can't
21:46get to work. We can't close a labor gap if talent is stranded and we can't build a striving economy if
21:53our transportation infrastructure leaves large portions behind. Public transit is a workforce
21:59infrastructure. It's a business infrastructure. It's a community infrastructure. Let's treat it like
22:05it matter because it does. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy. Normally we leave the jokes to
22:14Schloss, but we appreciate you taking this wing. I did tell him not to. We're going to hear from our
22:20lawmakers now from the region. First, Senator Bosco, then Senator Miller, Representative Freeman,
22:26Representative Sammy. And then, of course, we'll hear from Chairman Schweier and Representative
22:32Schlossie Schlossberger. So in that order, Senator Bosco. Thank you. Hi. You're here again, like Tony
22:40said, you know, again and again and again. And so I think you officially get the title the first governor
22:46from the Lehigh. I love that. You are. I love that. That is the truth. Anyway, and why I say that is because
22:53we are not going to get mass transit funding in Harrisburg without his leadership. I'm serious
22:58about that because the Senate wasn't really serious about taking up this bill or enhancing funding for
23:04mass transit until the governor made it a priority. And some of the House members that are sitting here
23:09and some of the Senate members are also making a party as one of the top budget priorities moving
23:15forward. And that matters because instead of 20 priorities, we have one right now that the Democrats
23:20especially are trying to promote and that's funding for mass transit. I know how important it is.
23:26Look, we talk about the Lehigh Valley being the third largest metropolitan metropolitan area in the
23:33state, right? Well, we're thriving and we continue to thrive, but we won't unless we have funding for
23:40transportation systems. And that's not just including roads, bridges. This is an important part of our
23:46infrastructure moving forward. And you can't like was said, you can't get to work. You can't get to
23:50your doctor's appointments. You can't do a lot of things without our mass transit system. The only
23:54thing I would say is that I don't know if the governor knows this, but I had a bill in that would say
24:00when we look at transit funding, we really have to look at our growing areas like the Lehigh Valley
24:06and try to support them a little bit more with a funding formula that makes sense for the whole state.
24:11Anyway, thank you again for being here. And I know Nick's up. He's my thing.
24:18Well, thank you, Governor. And thank you, Senator Bosco. First of all, I want to thank you for
24:22for coming back to Lehigh Valley. As mentioned before, it's the fastest growing region in the
24:26Commonwealth and and preparing for that growth, being strategic and thoughtful. That's exactly what
24:30this budget proposal is. And being mindful of all the different folks that have to get to their jobs
24:35every day or dialysis and health care and access. You know, I can't help but think when I look at
24:41these buses behind me, we recently visited a Mack truck and Representative Schweier was driving an
24:4618-wheeler, pretty scary site. But but another large employer here in the Lehigh Valley that needs a
24:52workforce that can get to those jobs and those family sustaining jobs over not just years but decades
24:58here in the Lehigh Valley. We're happy to support that across the Commonwealth. You know, I was just in
25:03Pittsburgh talking about their Pittsburgh regional transit, making sure that we're being thoughtful
25:07on how we're making these investments across the state. So I want to thank the governor and his team
25:11again for being thoughtful and strategic in this budget proposal. We'll continue to to fight here
25:15in June and get this budget done. Thank you very much. Thank you.
25:24Good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. And I thank the governor again for being present as
25:28he is so often here in the Lehigh Valley and for this important announcement and for his
25:33leadership on behalf of public transportation in particular and the leadership of our business
25:38community. Tony is a good representative of that. This truly has broad-based support and it's something
25:43we need to do. You cannot emphasize enough how important public mass transit is to the people of
25:51the Lehigh Valley as well as across the state. It's taken by individuals who depend upon for work,
25:57to get to school, for medical appointments and even to access groceries. You know, a lot of our transit
26:02riders live in urban areas that are food deserts. Their only access to fresh fruit sometimes can
26:08either be a farmer's market in the community or on a regular basis having bus service out to the
26:13supermarkets that exist in the suburbs. It literally is a lifeline for many people. We should not forget
26:20that. It is a lifeline to get to the places they need to go to sustain themselves and their families.
26:27And as Secretary Carroll pointed out, three quarters of the people who take mass transit have no other
26:32means of getting around. Imagine being isolated with no way of getting to the basic necessities
26:38of life within your community. Mass transit has other benefits as well. It helps to cut down pollution.
26:44It helps to cut down traffic congestion, all of which are beneficial to our area. The funding crisis for
26:49mass transit affects all of our systems in the state. It's not just a big city issue. And as we noted,
26:54Atlanta does an outstanding job for our Lehigh Valley riders. And it's critical that they get funding
27:00as they face 20% cuts in service. We can't let that happen. House Bill 1364, of which I am a co-sponsor,
27:07would provide $292 million without raising taxes by using existing amounts of sales tax revenue
27:14transferred to those public transportation trusts, increasing it from the current 4.4% to 6.15%.
27:21And that means that it would be a total of $1.5 billion in funding over a five-year period.
27:28That's a difference that matters. So the House has passed this legislation as the past has been
27:33mentioned three times in the past. And the Republican-controlled Senate has yet to act.
27:39We urge them to act when we send over House Bill 1364, which we are poised to do very shortly in the
27:45House. It will run in the House shortly. And the Senate needs to act, to send it to the Governor's
27:50desk to get his signature. The time to act is now. We cannot stand idly by. And idling and buses do
27:57not go together. So we need to move forward and make this a reality.
28:01Thank you. Thank you very much. Steve Samuelson from the 135th District.
28:12I also want to acknowledge some of our other elected officials are here.
28:16We have Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure.
28:18We have Easton Mayor Sal Panto. And Northampton County Commissioner Jeff Warren.
28:29So thank you for being here today. As the Governor said,
28:32economic development depends on the employees and the businesses. It is so interconnected.
28:39And mass transit transit is part of every single conversation. One of my roles in Harrisburg,
28:46I'm Chair of the Finance Committee. We've had a couple bills this year. One would benefit working
28:50moms and working dads. It's called the Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit. It's promoted by the
28:55United Way of Pennsylvania. It would benefit 802,000 Pennsylvania. These are working families
29:02who are trying to make ends meet. They're paying the bills. They're getting to their jobs. And many of
29:08the folks, many of those Alice households, use mass transit to get to their jobs. We passed that bill in the
29:15committee. We passed it in the House. We sent it to the Senate. Last month, we voted on a bill
29:20called the EDGE Program, Economic Development for a Growing Economy. We're talking about many
29:26economic incentives that Governor Shapiro is promoting. We're talking about reliable energy.
29:31We're talking about hydrogen. We're talking about aviation. We're talking about dairy. We are talking
29:36about geothermal. And we're talking about semiconductor incentives, including semiconductor incentives
29:42that would benefit companies right here in the Lehigh Valley. So when you think about it, the employees
29:48getting to work, the employers relying on the Lehigh Valley's awesome workforce. Everyone depends on
29:57transit. So I like how Nancy Dishnot put it. This is economic connections. And I want to close by quoting
30:05the words of a great American. I might edit the words a little bit. A great American, Tony Ionelli,
30:11who said, businesses need employees, employees need opportunity, and everyone needs transit.
30:20It's now my honor to introduce one of our House leaders. He's the majority whip of the House
30:25representatives. He's from Allentown, and it's Mike Schlossberg.
30:34Good morning, everyone. My name is Mike Schlossberg, aka Schlossie, Schlossberger,
30:38whatever works. I have the honor of serving the people of Allentown West and also serving my
30:42colleagues as the majority whip. Now, don't tell this to anybody, and really for your sake, but I spent
30:47five and a half years working for the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. In fact, I am largely the
30:52fault of Tony Ionelli. And Tony, maybe you don't want to tell people on the Board of Governors that.
30:56But I, in all sincerity, learned a lot working for the Chamber of Commerce, which is obviously an
31:01organization that's deeply invested in the Lehigh Valley community, in our workforce, and in our
31:05businesses. And during the course of many meetings, many text messages, and many emails, I gleaned quite
31:10a bit from Tony Ionelli. One of the things that always stuck with me in terms of how businesses and
31:15government really do have a lot of overlap is this. No business in the history of humanity has cut their way to
31:20prosperity. No business has ever been successful in the long run without investing in itself.
31:26Mass transit is about more than just a ride. Mass transit is the engine that powers the entire Lehigh
31:34Valley community. Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about making sure that
31:38we can get that their businesses have the right amount of employers, that businesses have customers
31:43as we continue to evolve in a post-COVID world. How do we expect people to get to work without giving
31:49them the opportunity to do so? Three times my colleagues and I in the House of Representatives
31:53have voted to send the mass transportation package that the governor supports that would
31:57keep Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley moving to the Senate. And three times they have said no.
32:02Do no fault, of course, to Senators Boscolla and Miller. It is time, if we truly care about the economy,
32:08that we invest in it appropriately. It is time, if we truly care about getting people to work,
32:13about keeping people gainfully employed, and off of the taxpayer dole,
32:17that we actually ensure that they can get from point A to point B. We must pass this transportation
32:23package, ensure that Pennsylvania's economy and the Lehigh Valley's economy can continue growing.
32:28And with that, it is my pleasure to introduce my friend and colleague, Chairman Pete Schweier.
32:32Chairman Pete Schweier, President of the United States, President of the United States,
32:37So for 13 years, I had the opportunity to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Atlanta.
32:43I learned a ton from Owen. I learned a ton from Becky Bradley's here. I also see our colleague,
32:47Josh Siegel, who was able to join us today. Josh, glad to see you here as a huge transit supporter
32:54himself. And I learned a lot from, like I said, I learned a lot from Owen. I learned a lot from Becky.
32:58I learned a lot from so many folks in transit. And the van over my left shoulder is often used to
33:04transport people that have significant medical concerns. Maybe you have a loved one who has to go to
33:09a dialysis center just to be able to carry on with their life and live as good of a life as you can.
33:16But quite often, that dialysis patient who arrives in the van over my left shoulder
33:20is cared for by somebody who arrives in the bus over my right shoulder.
33:26This is not a story just about economic development. This isn't just a story about business.
33:30This is a story about human beings and the things that we need to make sure
33:35that folks have the things that they need to be able to live a good and normal life that we would
33:39ask for anybody. And the entire loop, that entire system of transportation, whether they're arriving
33:45in a car to Secretary Carroll's point over a brand new bridge that under the Shapiro administration was
33:50just repaired, or if they're arriving in a van over there, if they're going to work over in a bus
33:55over our right shoulder, it all accomplishes the same goal, which is keeping business moving,
33:59keeping our economy flowing, and allowing our region and our entire Commonwealth to grow.
34:05And I joined with my colleagues in supporting this legislation and calling on the Senate,
34:10with no fault of our friends, both Senator Bosco, who I also worked for, along with Steve Samuelson,
34:16and my friend Senator Nick Miller, to get the Senate moving, maybe taking a page from PennDOT,
34:21and actually moving things forward. So I appreciate everyone for joining us today.
34:26And Governor Shapiro, I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you very much.
34:28Thank you. Thank you. So we've learned today that we've learned two things. One,
34:35that all roads lead back to Senator Bascola and Tony Ionelli.
34:41You all can debate whether that's a good thing or bad thing.
34:44And two, we've learned just how critically important mass transit is for the businesses that exist today,
34:52and the promise of business development and growth tomorrow. You know how aggressive we've been on
34:58economic development. You know we're putting points on the board like never before. Don't slow that
35:04progress down by failing to invest in mass transit. This is our moment. I want to thank all of these
35:09lawmakers who are here, who are prepared to vote yes again. I want to thank the business leaders who have
35:15been here. And I'll close by particularly thanking Dr. Joe Cashone and the team here at Jefferson. You do a
35:22great job saving lives and you are great civic leaders as well. You understand your responsibility to
35:28a community. And I'm grateful that you're here today stepping up to support mass transit. So thank you very
35:33much. And with that, we'll take a couple of questions from the media if you have any.
35:39While we're on that transit, kind of shifting gears a little bit, but 20 SEPTA buses since
35:44estimated were caught fire this morning. SEPTA is already struggling. Do you have any comments on that?
35:50Well, these were buses that were not in use. I know Secretary Carroll and
35:53law enforcement are working on the investigation now. I think they'll have more to say later in the day.
35:57Okay. Anything else? Nope. Okay. Thank you. Oh, one more. Yes.
36:04360 million is a huge price tag. I know I'm going to have viewers watching this tonight wondering,
36:09can the state truly afford that? Yeah, the state can afford it. We've got a surplus.
36:14I've proposed historic investments in really the same three areas I've been focused on,
36:19like a laser beam as governor, education, public safety, economic development.
36:24Mass transit and our roads and bridges are a key driver of economic development.
36:29I also think we can cut taxes at the same time. Unlike the chaos in Washington,
36:34we've got fiscal calm here at home in Pennsylvania. We can afford to cut taxes,
36:39make critical investments and continue to have a surplus and have a balanced budget. We can do all
36:45of those things. If we continue to do what has marked really the first couple of years of my time
36:51as governor, work in a bipartisan manner to solve problems and get stuff done. All right. Thank you
36:57all very, very much.