{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/fetterman-reacts-to-drastic-septa-cuts-dismantling-of-philadelphia-public-transit-system/", "Fetterman Reacts to Drastic SEPTA Cuts, Dismantling of Philadelphia Public Transit System", "2025-04-10", "2025", "2025-04", "Democrat", "Senate", "PA", "John Fetterman", "F000479", "www.fetterman.senate.gov", "fetterman", "https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/press-release/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) announced a proposed plan to achieve a required balance budget if the state does not pass a permanent funding solution. This plan would cut service by 45% by January 2026, decimating service for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians. U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) released the following statement on X:\n\n\u201cIncreased fares, bus routes eliminated, rail services reduced \u2013 this isn\u2019t good for anybody.\n\n\u201cPennsylvania\u2019s leaders must come together to fix this funding issue soon and prevent these devastating impacts from rolling out.\u201d\n\nThis morning, SEPTA announced they will vote on June 26 on a package of service cuts and fare increases aimed at balancing the SEPTA operating budget. If approved, 20% service cuts will go into effect in August 2025, followed by a 21.5% fare increase in September. In October, the board will hold a hearing to evaluate additional cuts, with the potential for service cuts reaching 45% in January 2026.\n\nThese cuts would devastate public transit throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. If enacted, the August service cuts would result in 1 million fewer service hours per year. The potential January 2026 cuts would be even more drastic, dismantling the public transit system hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on. SEPTA is not the only transit agency in the Commonwealth that faces a \u201cdeath spiral\u201d if a state funding solution is not advanced. Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) has warned of 35% service cuts, fare increases, and layoffs.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:06:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/fetterman-reacts-to-drastic-septa-cuts-dismantling-of-philadelphia-public-transit-system/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9079361334443092, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}