WASHINGTON - Members of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation gathered on Capitol Hil today to discuss how the Federal Highway Administration plans to evaluate a new application to impose tolls on Interstate 80.
“I used the opportunity to make sure FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez is aware of my staunch opposition to this proposal,” said U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson, R-5 of Howard. Thompson also delivered to Mendez, a three-inch thick binder of press articles from the state on the differing opinions and the recent scandals surrounding the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, who, if the application is approved, would manage and toll I-80.
Representatives Thompson, Kathy Dahlkemper, Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney on November 3rd invited Administrator Mendez to meet with the delegation to explain the complicated process of evaluating the Turnpike’s application. The FHWA has turned down the state’s two previous applications.
Seven members of the 19-member delegation attended the meeting. They were Representatives Thompson, Dahlkemper, Kanjorski, Carney, Jim Gerlach, Bob Brady and Bill Shuster.
Mendez told the group: “We are not predisposed to one decision over another," according to a statement released by Thompson's office. "Our intent is to follow the law the U.S. Congress put in front of us.”
The Administrator was asked if he had a timetable for a decision, he responded: “We don’t have a projected time frame. We must meet the intent of the law and the details. I have instructed our teams to expedite but to be deliberate. Don’t push too quickly and get the wrong answer.”
One of Mendez’s policy advisors explained that the application must show that “the only way the state could reconstruct or rehabilitate was through tolling.”
Kanjorski told Mendez that he did not think the state had exhausted all other possibilities.
Thompson will be keeping an open dialogue with the FHWA as this process moves forward. “Today’s meeting has only cracked the surface of this debate,” said Thompson.
News
Congressmen discuss I-80 tolling proposal
- News
-
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
LEWISBURG — Paid members of the William Cameron Engine Company have voted to unionize under the International Association of Fire Fighters, a move believed to stem from internal tension between paid and volunteer members of the department, according to various sources.
-
M-W rule on drug testing is area’s boldest
MIDDLEBURG — Midd-West is the only school district in the Central Susquehanna Valley that requires students interested in participating in extra-curricular activities to agree to submit to random drug testing.
-
New shelter exec gets busy
When Cathy Teisher stepped down as executive director of Haven Ministries, in March, Pamela Steffen stepped up.
-
Tax boost could bring $120G pad
The Lewisburg Area School District will seek a 3.2 percent real estate tax increase for the 2012-13 school year, the maximum allowed under the index, under a proposed budget now available for public comment.
-
Fire has burned beneath Centralia for 50 years
CENTRALIA — Fifty years ago on Sunday, a fire at the town dump ignited an exposed coal seam, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the demolition of nearly every building in Centralia — a whole community of 1,400 simply gone.
-
'To Do': Montandon Community Days
MONTANDON - Montandon Community Days will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 26 along Railroad Street.
-
California’s Coronado named nation’s best beach
CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — Like a Hollywood star, Coronado’s 1.5 mile-long beach literally sparkles, thanks to the mineral mica glinting in its sand.
That’s one of the reasons why Coronado — flanked by the iconic hotel featured in Marilyn Monroe’s 1958 film “Some Like It Hot” — has been named the No. 1 beach in the United States in the 2012 survey by “Dr. Beach” professor Stephen P. Leatherman of Florida International University. -
Typical CEO made $9.6M last year, AP study finds
Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.
-
Barnstorming cattle badger citizens for beer
BOXFORD, Mass. (AP) — Police say a roving group of cows crashed a small gathering in a Massachusetts town and bullied the guests for their beer.
-
'A Day in Towne' tradition draws crowds to Boalsburg
May 25--For the 148th year, Boalsburg will be the gathering place for regional families to remember all ranks of Armed Forces veterans.
-
Fired Pa. president gets more time to clear office
CALIFORNIA, Pa. (AP) — A judge has canceled a hearing to determine whether California University of Pennsylvania president Angelo Armenti can remove his personal property from his former office, because state officials have given him more time to do so.
- Weird crime of the week: Peddler in pickup scams bargain-hunting meat seeker
- More News Headlines
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
