Gov. Ed Rendell told a group of state transit officials Feb. 10 that any effort by the Pennsylvania Legislature to fund transportation projects by raising the state fuel tax must include additional money for mass transit for him to support it, The Associated Press reported.

Highway contractors and their partners are seeking as much as 8 cents per gallon in new fuel taxes to pay for improvements to Pennsylvania’s highways and bridges.

“If we are going to do a transportation initiative, you have my word it will include an initiative for public transportation as well,” Rendell told the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association’s government affairs conference.

The governor’s 2004-2005 budget proposes a $9.3 million jump in state mass transit assistance for the next fiscal year.

The revenue generated would go toward mass transit operating costs, but leave at current levels funding for rail safety inspection, regional mass transit planning and rural transportation.

House Appropriations Chairman David Argall, R-Schuylkill, told the news service the $9.3 million funding increase “should survive” as the spending plan goes through the Legislature, but added that he thinks the governor will have to take the lead on any transportation initiative.