HARRISBURG, April 10, 2013 – State Senator Judith L. Schwank said today that a bill she has proposed would help ensure that state police have sufficient resources to provide public safety services.

Schwank (D-Berks) said Senate Bill 841 would offset funds the state provides to municipalities from motor license revenue in the same amount as the value of the state police coverage to any municipality with a population of 5,000 or more.

“The funds would then be available to help fix Pennsylvania’s deteriorating roads and bridges,” Schwank said, “And, just as important, making this change creates an incentive for larger municipalities that now rely on state police protection at the expense of state tax payers to end that practice.”

In an informal survey she conducted earlier this year, Schwank said 74 percent of the respondents said they support requiring municipalities that rely on state police coverage to pay for it.

However, Schwank said, her proposal would not apply to state police patrols on interstate highways.

“Interstate patrols primarily serve the general traveling public, and not the business and residents of the municipality where the highway is located, so those patrols would be excluded from the offset calculations,” Schwank said. “I believe this legislation can encourage regionalization of police forces and free up state police for use in other areas of enforcement.”

Gov. Corbett has proposed transferring $619 million from the motor license fund to help pay state police costs in his 2013-‘14 budget.

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