Pennsylvania House votes to extend I-95 disaster proclamation until next June

A resolution that would extend to next June Gov. Josh Shapiro’s emergency disaster declaration issued in the response to the collapse of a bridge on I-95 in Philadelphia passed the state House of Representatives.

The proposed extension, approved by a bipartisan 165-38 vote, would allow PennDOT to continue to be eligible for emergency relief funding from federal government to reconstruct and repair the section of this major north-south East Coast highway.

Currently, the governor’s declaration expires on July 3. The state constitution places a 21-day limit on gubernatorially declared disaster proclamations unless extended by the General Assembly.

The Senate must approve an identical resolution for the declaration to be extended through next June. A Senate GOP spokeswoman said the resolution has been the subject of discussion but she was unprepared to say more about it on Monday afternoon.

In discussing the resolution he sponsored to extend the declaration, Rep. Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, said it would ensure the workers and contractors on the project will be paid so they can continue working to complete the project.

That section of I-95 was reopened on Friday, just 12 days after a fatal vehicle crash and fire caused a bridge on the highway to collapse.

“The primary reason the administration has been able to respond to this action so quickly is because Governor Shapiro signed a disaster proclamation on June 12 to expedite the rebuilding of I-95,” he said.

That action, Neilson said, “cut through the red tape. Allowed the commonwealth to immediately draw down on federal funds. Make $7 million in state funds available and authorize [the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency], PennDOT and state police to waive bidding and contracting procedures and other formalities normally prescribed by law.”

With the reopening of the northbound and southbound lanes, Neilson said phase one of the project is complete but there’s more work left to do. Further, he said the Shapiro Administration “assured me personally this [disaster declaration] will be lifted the day this job is completed, the day all lanes are opened up, all traffic moving properly throughout the area.”

Republican Rep. Brad Roae of Crawford County failed on a party-line vote in his attempt to extend the disaster only until Sept. 30 to give the legislature more control over the situation.

“IF we do this for an entire year and things are not going how they should be going, there’s not really much that we will be able to do,” Roae said. He added the longer time period brings back memories of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s covid-19 disaster proclamation that lasted 16 months.

Neilson said to compare this situation to the pandemic was unfair. Moreover, he said extending the proclamation only until Sept. 30 would be disruptive to the project’s progress.

“It is well-known how good this project has been going,” Neilson said. “Any delay in this project would hurt the thousands and thousands of cars that drive up and down 95 each day.”