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Gov. Shapiro says Pa. mass transit agencies face “dire situation,” criticizes Trump tariffs • Pennsylvania Capital-Star [1]
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Date: 2025-04-10 21:48:48+00:00
Gov. Josh Shapiro addressed three key issues facing the state and beyond on Thursday during an appearance in Philadelphia. Two tied into the state’s response to actions made by President Donald Trump’s administration: Tariffs and immigration. The third emphasized his support for funding increases for mass transit, as a potential budget fight looms.
Shapiro steps up criticism of Trump’s tariffs
Shapiro, who has emerged as a consistent voice against Trump’s tariff policy, highlighted his concern about the impact on Pennsylvania consumers and businesses.
“I’ve heard from a lot of businesses that are wondering if they’re going to get their shipments or getting notice from suppliers that the materials or the products that they were counting on are no longer going to be able to come or going to cost a whole lot more,” Shapiro said.
“There is all kinds of confusion in the marketplace because of the confusion that Donald Trump has brought to this,” he added. “Certainly, we need more trade balance in the world and in this country. Certainly, we need to fix some of the bad trade deals of the past, but what the president has done here is injected chaos and increased prices on Pennsylvania consumers. That’s not the answer.”
Supporters of Trump’s tariffs believe that it will boost American manufacturing, although some economists are worried about rising costs for consumers.
Shapiro’s press conference on Thursday was at the Port of Philadelphia, which is the largest port in the U.S. for imported fruit. His office said the facility supports 12,000 jobs locally and 66,000 maritime jobs statewide, while saying Trump’s tariffs would hurt jobs there.
Mass transit agencies faces “dire situation” across Pennsylvania
On the same day SEPTA announced a proposal that would lead to significant service cuts, Shapiro is urging state lawmakers to approve legislation that would fund mass transit for agencies around the commonwealth.
“Let me just say, we face a dire situation for mass transit agencies all across Pennsylvania, from Pittsburgh to Philly and rural communities in between,” Shapiro said Thursday.
Shapiro touted proposing “historic levels of funding for mass transit agencies,” for the last two budgets, while adding enough funding that has avoided service cuts to SEPTA. He also highlighted that the state House, with a narrow Democratic Party majority, passed a bill on a bipartisan basis to boost transportation funding of mass transit agencies on three occasions, but it has yet to advance in the GOP-led Senate.
Since funding for mass transit has been at the forefront over the past year, Republicans have criticized Shapiro and Democrats on the issue, accusing them of prioritizing education over it.
“We heard earlier today from SEPTA that they can no longer wait,” Shapiro said.
In November, Shapiro transferred $153 million in federal highway capital funds to SEPTA to help stave off significant service cuts and fare increases. Republicans criticized that move, with state Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) saying in November the highway system was already underfunded and described the action as “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Shapiro said on Thursday that “the time is now to act,” on mass transit funding and said House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D-Montgomery) intends to bring up and pass legislation next month that would fund these systems statewide.
“We will all work together, as we have in the past, to find bipartisan agreement,” Shapiro said. “We’ve got to make sure we do so on mass transit this time.”
SEPTA isn’t the only transit system that has sounded the alarm over funding issues. Pittsburgh Regional Transit also announced last month that their agency is facing service reductions and fare increases.
“All 67 counties are impacted, and here in southeastern Pennsylvania, this is a crisis that needs to be addressed,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro says Trump is “instilling fear” into immigrant communities across Pennsylvania
Shapiro criticized President Donald Trump’s policies with the southern border, while also saying the United States is in need of comprehensive immigration reform. He said he supports a secure border, a pathway to citizenship for those who have been living in the country, and establishing “clear rules of the road for folks who want to come here.”
“And you’ve got to come here legally if you want to be in this country,” Shapiro said.
“What the President is doing right now, in many ways, is instilling fear in too many of our immigrant communities across Pennsylvania, taking people who are otherwise legally permitted to be here and remov(ing) them without due process from their communities,” Shapiro said. “It is critically important that we follow the laws of the land, that individuals have due process rights, and that we also make clear that immigration into this country needs to be done legally.”
Shapiro added he believes all those things can be done at the same time and they are not mutually exclusive.
“We can have due process, we can have compassion, we can have clear rules of the road. We can have a secure border. We need to do all of that,” Shapiro said. “What I’ve seen from this White House so far has been mostly haphazard and has not actually accomplished the test that I think most Americans think needs to be accomplished in D.C.”
On Wednesday evening, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) said during a telephone townhall that he thinks a “showdown” was going to happen between the federal government and sanctuary cities in Pennsylvania.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are 13 sanctuary cities and counties in Pennsylvania.
Trump announced on Thursday morning via social media that his administration was working on papers to withhold all federal funding for any city or state that allows” sanctuary cities.
Shapiro said on Thursday that he had not seen Trump’s post, so he couldn’t “really comment on it,” although he said “we’re not a sanctuary state.”
McCormick and supporters of Trump’s immigration policies have argued the president’s victory was in part a result of his call for mass deportations and tougher border policies.
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