Letters to the Editor | Sept. 20, 2024

Greater Philadelphia faces a challenge that could derail our economic future: SEPTA’s looming fiscal cliff. The state budget provides SEPTA with $46 million — a fraction of the $240 million needed. Lawmakers did not adopt a dedicated funding source to support transit agencies across Pennsylvania and instead allocated one-time dollars for transit, only briefly delaying a crisis.

SEPTA’s recently proposed fare adjustments offer a preview of what is to come, with an average fare increase of 7.5%, just a start to the burdens riders will feel due to legislators’ inaction. SEPTA has also been forced to implement a hiring freeze, restrict employee travel, and restore parking fees at many stations. The business community calls on state lawmakers to implement a multimodal transportation investment package that provides a dedicated and adequate funding solution for public transportation agencies across the state struggling to maintain service.

Public transportation fuels Southeastern Pennsylvania’s economy. Our region represents only 5% of Pennsylvania’s land area, but generates 42% of the economic activity and 38% of the tax revenue the commonwealth relies on, thanks in no small part to SEPTA’s system. Without reliable and affordable transit, growth is severely compromised. Reduced transit service widens economic disparities and hinders progress. As employers, we recognize a diverse, accessible workforce is crucial for innovation and competitiveness.

We cannot let SEPTA enter a death spiral of service cuts, ridership decline, and economic contraction. The consequences would be dire for our region’s residents, decreasing property values, creating job losses, and reversing years of economic progress. The choice is clear: Invest in our transit system now, or pay a much steeper price in lost economic opportunities and diminished quality of life for all Pennsylvanians later. The future of our state and regional economy hangs in the balance. Let’s choose growth, equity, and prosperity and fund SEPTA.

Chellie Cameron, president and CEO, Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia

Cancer will kill an estimated 27,570 people in Pennsylvania this year. Lawmakers have the power to enact policies that help people prevent and fight this disease. That is why the upcoming race for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is so critical. I want to hear what the candidates have to say on health-care issues that impact all Americans. Cancer survivors have asked both Sen. Bob Casey and Dave McCormick where they stand.

What is their commitment to ensuring access to affordable health coverage? How will they support increasing funding for cancer research? Will they support legislation to ensure access to cancer prevention services? Casey has pledged to support these issues by signing the Cancer Promise, which outlines the commitments patients hope candidates will make for the cancer community if elected. McCormick has not responded to our request to sign. We’re waiting to hear back from both candidates on our invitation to sit down and discuss why they are so important. Both candidates need to rise above partisan politics and talk about how they plan to save lives and make cancer a national priority.

Rushabh Patel, Philadelphia

One day into the school year, Philadelphia’s public schools once again failed our students with two heat emergency shutdowns. Shutdowns are getting more frequent as the climate warms. The recently passed Solar for Schools bill is a win-win-win for Pennsylvania and our schools. It provides union jobs, clean energy, and “free” power to run air-conditioning units in our schools. That power will even help free up saved money for more school AC unit installations. But we can’t air-condition our way out of a warming climate.

Our state ranks fourth worst in the nation for producing global warming pollution, and only 4% of electricity produced in Pennsylvania comes from renewable sources. Gov. Josh Shapiro and leaders in the General Assembly have proposed two pieces of legislation meant to increase renewable energy production in the state (the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction (PACER) Program, HB 2275 and SB 1191) and hold global warming polluters accountable (the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS), HB 2277 and SB 1190). These bills will help rein in climate pollution and promote cleaner, affordable energy alternatives. These bills, if passed, will slow global warming and help keep our kids in school. The legislature should pass these bills, this session, to help improve the lives of every Pennsylvanian.

Peter Furcht, Philadelphia, pfurcht@comcast.net

A recent article on uninsured Americans concludes that, despite recent federal action to expand insurance access, the remaining people without coverage are the “last stragglers who aren’t eligible or don’t have access.” In Pennsylvania, many of those “last stragglers” are children who aren’t able to get coverage. Over the last few years, the share of uninsured children and teens rose steadily, according to research by Children First.

The current number of uninsured children in Pennsylvania is estimated to be 145,000, or 5.5% of all children in the state. This new high watermark in the share of uninsured children places Pennsylvania fifth highest in the nation. Children, through no fault of their own, are missing out on critical checkups, immunizations, and emergency care, increasing their chances for lifelong health problems. For every child to get the care they need, Pennsylvania must automatically enroll children in Medicaid for health insurance when they are already enrolled in other public benefits, put resources into navigators to find uninsured children and help their parents with enrollment, and ensure every child who is medically or financially eligible for Medicaid has no barriers to enrollment.

Estelle Richman, former secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, board member, Children First

I was a John McCain Republican for many years. I believed in the principled way in which he always approached his public service. But a few years ago, I changed my registration. I did so because of Donald Trump’s profound disrespect for the Constitution and our democratic ideals, his self-centeredness, his focus on being divisive and vindictive at a time when the country needs unity more than ever, and his infringement on personal rights. As a Navy veteran who fought in Vietnam, as McCain did, I am also disgusted by Trump’s failure to understand the concepts of military honor and sacrifice. These are serious, disabling, dangerous, and fateful flaws of character.

While I might disagree with some of their policies, I see Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as strong, unifying, better positioned to prosecute America’s interests abroad — particularly in the continuing defense of Ukraine — and completely right on the environment, education, a woman’s right to choose, and other personal freedoms at home.

As you make your decision for whom to vote for, I hope you will keep in mind what I regard as some of the most fundamental virtues of our nation — and, once upon a time, of the GOP itself: selfless love of country, obedience to the rule of law and fidelity to the Constitution, freedom for individuals to make personal choices, the belief that everyone deserves an opportunity to succeed, and respect for our military.

To my Republican friends, I hope you will consider voting Democratic this time. By voting in this fashion, you will not only put decent and forward-looking leadership in the White House but simultaneously help rid the Republican Party of Trump’s destructive influence and allow the Grand Old Party I once knew to come back.

John F. Smith III, Gladwyne

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