Last night, I attended a candidates’ forum sponsored by the Dubois Area Chamber of Commerce. All twelve candidates were there. As you might imagine, with three Democrats and nine Republicans, there weren’t many things upon which the candidates agreed. But one issue was different. We could all agree that tolling I-80 was a bad idea!

We were privileged to have Rep. John Peterson in attendance. He received a well-deserved standing ovation for his twelve years of dedicated service to the citizens of the 5th District. I believe that he deserves tremendous credit for his strong leadership in stamping out this boondoggle before it built any momentum.

I was asked recently by a newspaper to choose between two answers: If elected to Congress, would I continue the effort of Rep. Peterson, or would I advance the efforts of Rep. Peterson. In other words, would I do more than our current Congressman is now doing? I had to answer honestly: I don’t think anyone can do more than John Peterson has done at the federal level to stop this economy killing plan to drain money out of the 5th District and funnel it into Philadelphia’s and Pittsburgh’s mass transit systems.

I could write page after page explaining why this is such a bad idea, and why leasing the Turnpike is such a better alternative. Instead, let me simply refer you to two links on Congressman Peterson’s website: This handout gives four basic reasons not to toll I-80, and also provides a cost-benefit analysis of tolling I-80 vs. leasing the turnpike. There are lots of newspaper articles linked to the website, but this press release is very straightforward and succinct.

Finally, I think it worth a reminder that tolling I-80 is a state initiative. It requires federal approval, but Act 44 is a Pennsylvania law. While we all hope that the federal Department of Transportation would deny the state’s request, we should not gamble on that outcome. Our first line of defense should be to repeal Act 44. If you have not signed a petition, please do so. And keep the pressure on your State Representative and State Senator to clean up this mess where it started—in Harrisburg.