GOP Lawmakers to Fight New Bid to Toll I-80

Pennsylvania House Republicans along the Interstate 80 corridor say they will fight the Rendell Administration's renewed effort to toll I-80. PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler, who was also recently named as chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, told a House Democratic Policy Committee that PennDOT and the commission plan to submit a revised application for the toll proposal to the federal government later this year. State Representative Scott Hutchinson of Venango County says the I-80 Republicans are unified against this plan which he says would devastate rural northwestern Pennsylvania and transfer money to urban areas...."So we are renewing our fight to stop the tolling plan on Interstate 80, including chopping the Turnpike Commission down to size and maybe eliminating it altogether. I think they have a poor track record, a patronage history and a history of corruption we should end."
Hutchinson says tolling the interstate would hinder the state's economic recovery.