BELLS TO TOLL FOR TURNPIKE

(EXTON, PA) – Taxpayers’ Candidate Jim Gerlach on Monday continued to show his commitment to changing the culture in Harrisburg as our governor by announcing that he would abolish the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and turn management of the 531-mile toll road over to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

“My administration will mean the end of the road for a Commission that has built a reputation over the past several decades as being more concerned about political patronage than potholes,” said Gerlach, the first and only Republican candidate to make a contract with taxpayers to shake up Harrisburg and offer a detailed plan for putting Pennsylvanians back to work.

“In recent weeks, legislation has been introduced to fold the Turnpike Commission into PennDOT while honoring the existing collective bargaining agreements with Turnpike employees. As governor, I would enact that legislation because Pennsylvania needs a 21st Century transportation system. A transportation system that allows our businesses to get their products to market more efficiently and allows smoother commutes for our workers. Merging management of the toll road would improve efficiency, eliminate duplicative services and waste, and free up badly-needed resources to repair and rebuild our Commonwealth’s highways, roads and bridges.”

Separate probes by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office and the FBI have shrouded the Turnpike Commission in a cloud of corruption allegations. The Commission recently confirmed that a state grand jury has been investigating possible connections between political donations and work contracts at the Turnpike Commission. The FBI also is looking into several Turnpike projects, including the Valley Forge Interchange project that cost about twice as much as originally estimated.

Former Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin was fired in March after it was revealed that he had accepted a bogus contract from former Philadelphia State Senator Vincent Fumo. Fumo is serving a federal prison sentence after being convicted on 137 counts of public corruption.  Mr. Rubin’s wife and former Fumo aide, Ruth Arnao, was convicted of 45 counts of corruption and is serving a federal sentence.

As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Gerlach is the only candidate for governor who has worked for years at the state and federal level on improving the economic viability of urban, suburban and rural transportation corridors throughout Pennsylvania. He has secured tens of millions of dollars for important road, bridge and infrastructure projects that allow communities to grow, commerce to move freely and enhances the quality of life for all who live, work and do business in the Commonwealth.

Press Release from GerlachForPA.com

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