HB 765 — An Act amending the act of June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352, No.332), referred to as the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Compact, providing for veto power by the Governor over certain actions; further providing for audits; and providing the Governor of each state with power to ratify or veto certain actions taken by commissioners.

PRINTER'S NO.   789

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 765
                                               Session of
                                                 2025

     INTRODUCED BY EMRICK, FREEMAN AND CIRESI, MARCH 3, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS AND
        OPERATIONS, MARCH 3, 2025


                                    AN ACT
 1   Amending the act of June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352, No.332), entitled
 2      "An act providing for joint action by the Commonwealth of
 3      Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in the
 4      administration, operation, and maintenance of bridges over
 5      the Delaware River, and for the construction of additional
 6      bridge facilities across said river; authorizing the
 7      Governor, for these purposes, to enter into an agreement with
 8      the State of New Jersey; creating a Delaware River Joint Toll
 9      Bridge Commission and specifying the powers and duties
10      thereof, including the power to finance the construction of
11      additional bridges by the issuance of revenue bonds to be
12      redeemed from revenues derived from tolls collected at such
13      bridges; transferring to said commission all powers now
14      exercised by existing commission created to acquire toll
15      bridges over the Delaware River; and making an
16      appropriation," providing for veto power by the Governor over
17      certain actions; further providing for audits; and providing
18      the Governor of each state with power to ratify or veto
19      certain actions taken by commissioners.
20      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
21   hereby enacts as follows:
22      Section 1.    Articles II(t) and IX of section 1 of the act of
23   June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352, No.332), referred to as the Delaware
24   River Joint Toll Bridge Compact, are amended to read:
25                               ARTICLE II.
26      For the effectuation of its authorized purposes, the
 1   commission is hereby granted the following powers as limited and
 2   supplemented by the act of July 1, 1996 (P.L.457, No.70),
 3   entitled "A supplement to the act of June 25, 1931 (P.L.1352,
 4   No.332), entitled 'An act providing for joint action by the
 5   Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in the
 6   administration, operation, and maintenance of bridges over the
 7   Delaware River, and for the construction of additional bridge
 8   facilities across said river; authorizing the Governor, for
 9   these purposes, to enter into an agreement with the State of New
10   Jersey; creating a Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
11   and specifying the powers and duties thereof, including the
12   power to finance the construction of additional bridges by the
13   issuance of revenue bonds to be redeemed from revenues derived
14   from tolls collected at such bridges; transferring to said
15   commission all powers now exercised by existing commission
16   created to acquire toll bridges over the Delaware River; and
17   making an appropriation,' requiring the commission to adopt
18   competitive purchasing, equal opportunity employment and
19   competitive hiring practices":
20      * * *
21      (t)   To petition the Interstate Commerce Commission, any
22   public service or public utilities commission, or any other
23   federal, state or local authority, whether administrative,
24   judicial or legislative, for the adoption and execution of any
25   physical improvement, change in method, rate of transportation,
26   system of handling freight, warehousing, docking, lightering or
27   transfer of freight, which, in the opinion of the commission,
28   may be designed to improve or facilitate the movement or
29   handling of commerce within the district or improve the terminal
30   or transportation facilities therein.

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 1      As used in this agreement, the term 'port and terminal
 2   facilities' shall mean and shall include, without intending
 3   thereby to limit the definition of such term, any one or more of
 4   the following or any combination thereof:
 5      (1)    Every kind of terminal or storage structure or facility
 6   now in use or hereafter designed for use in the handling,
 7   storage, loading or unloading of freight or passengers at
 8   steamship, railroad or motor terminals or airports, and every
 9   kind of transportation facility now in use or hereafter designed
10   for use in connection therewith; and
11      (2)    All real and personal property and all works, buildings,
12   structures, equipment, machinery, appliances and appurtenances
13   necessary or convenient for the proper construction, equipment,
14   maintenance and operation of such facility or facilities or any
15   one or more of them.
16      Notwithstanding any other provision of this agreement or any
17   provision of law, state or federal, to the contrary, the
18   commission shall not combine for financing purposes any port and
19   terminal facility or facilities constructed or acquired by it
20   under the provisions of this agreement with any bridge or
21   bridges heretofore or hereafter constructed or acquired by the
22   commission.
23      The powers herein granted to the commission with reference to
24   port and terminal facilities shall supersede the right to
25   exercise any such powers within the district, as defined in
26   paragraph (e) of Article I of this agreement, by any other body
27   which has been heretofore created by compact or agreement
28   between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New
29   Jersey.
30      Nothing contained in any other of the provisions of this

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 1   compact or agreement shall be deemed or construed to amend,
 2   modify or repeal any of the powers, rights or duties conferred
 3   by, or limitations or restrictions expressed in, Article X of
 4   this compact or agreement, or any of the provisions of said
 5   Article X relating to a bridge to be constructed, operated and
 6   maintained by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission or the New
 7   Jersey Turnpike Authority acting alone or in conjunction with
 8   each other.
 9      Notwithstanding the above, each state reserves the right to
10   provide by law for the exercise of a veto power by the Governor
11   of that state over any action of any commissioner from that
12   state at any time within ten days, Saturdays, Sundays and public
13   holidays in the particular state excepted, after receipt at the
14   Governor's office of a certified copy of the minutes of the
15   meeting at which such vote was taken. Each state may provide by
16   law for the manner of delivery of the minutes, and for
17   notification of the action on the minutes.
18                             ARTICLE IX.
19      The commission shall make annual reports to the Governors and
20   Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State
21   of New Jersey setting forth in detail its operations and
22   transactions, and may make such additional reports from time to
23   time to the Governors and Legislatures, as it may deem
24   advisable.
25      [The commission shall submit biennially to a performance
26   audit jointly conducted by the Auditor General of Pennsylvania
27   and the State Auditor of New Jersey, which shall include
28   expenditures and operations of the commission. These auditors
29   shall complete the performance audit and prepare a joint report
30   by December 31 of every odd-numbered year, with the first audit

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 1   and report to be completed by December 31, 1997. A report of
 2   those audits shall be submitted to the Governors and
 3   Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State
 4   of New Jersey and to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge
 5   Commission.
 6      An annual financial audit shall be conducted at the expense
 7   of the commission by an independent accounting firm in
 8   accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A
 9   written report of each audit shall be submitted to the
10   commission and shall be retained by the commission for at least
11   five years.]
12      The Auditor General of Pennsylvania and the State Auditor of
13   New Jersey shall jointly conduct annual financial and management
14   audits of expenditures and operations of the commission and
15   shall submit a report of those audits to the Governors and
16   Legislatures of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State
17   of New Jersey.
18      Section 2.    The act is amended by adding a section to read:
19      Section 1.1.   The following apply to minutes of meetings of
20   the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission:
21      (1)   The minutes of every meeting of the Delaware River Joint
22   Toll Bridge Commission shall, as soon as possible after the
23   meeting, be delivered by, and under the certification of, the
24   secretary of the commission to the Governor.
25      (2)   No action taken by a Pennsylvania commissioner at the
26   meeting may have force or effect for a period of ten (10) days,
27   except Saturdays, Sundays and Commonwealth public holidays,
28   after the minutes have been delivered to the Governor under this
29   section, unless the Governor approves the minutes or any part of
30   the minutes, in writing by reciting the action approved, within

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 1   the ten-day period. This veto power may not be construed to
 2   affect the covenants contained in the bonds of the commission.
 3      (3)   The Governor shall return the minutes to the Delaware
 4   River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, not later than the ten-day
 5   period prescribed in paragraph (2), either with or without a
 6   veto of any action recited in the minutes to have been taken by
 7   a commissioner appointed from Pennsylvania.
 8      (4)   If the Governor does not return the minutes within the
 9   ten-day period, the action taken by the Pennsylvania
10   commissioners shall have the force and effect as recited in the
11   minutes, according to the wording of the minutes. If the
12   Governor, within the ten-day period prescribed in paragraph (2),
13   returns the minutes of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge
14   Commission with a veto against the action of that commissioner
15   from Pennsylvania, the action of that commissioner shall be null
16   and void and of no effect.
17      (5)   The commission shall designate an individual who shall
18   be responsible for responding to requests from the public and
19   the news media for information concerning the scheduling,
20   attendance and minutes of commission meetings.
21      Section 3.   The Governor may not enter into a supplemental
22   compact or agreement on behalf of the Commonwealth of
23   Pennsylvania until passage by the State of New Jersey of a
24   substantially similar act embodying a supplemental compact or
25   agreement between the two states.
26      Section 4.   The Governor shall transmit a notice of the date
27   of execution of any supplemental compact or agreement referenced
28   in section 3 to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication
29   in the next available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
30      Section 5.   This act shall take effect immediately.

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