Associated Press file photo

The House Transportation Committee approved a new mass transit funding bill Wednesday, baking in a handful of reforms proposed by Senate Republicans.

The move is the latest bid by House Democrats to get funding released as the state’s largest mass transit agency has set an Aug. 14 deadline for state action to stave off drastic service cuts.

Facing a $213 million deficit, SEPTA plans to cut nearly half of its service on rail and bus service.

Those cuts aren’t slated to take effect until later in the month, but officials said the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority needs the state to act by next Thursday to give the transit agency time to notify employees and customers.

The bill would increase the existing allocation of sales and use tax to mass transit from 4.4% to 6.15% to provide approximately $292.5 million for public transit..

Rep. Matthew Bradford, D-Montgomery, the House Majority Leader, told reporters after the committee meeting that the full chamber will return to Harrisburg to vote on the measure but a date of that vote had not been set Wednesday afternoon.

Even though the state budget is more than a month overdue, the state House has not been in session since July 14 and the Senate has not been in session since July 17.

House Bill 1788 increases the amount of sales tax directed toward mass transit and calls for the state to borrow $325 million to pay for road and bridge repairs and $125 million targeted for repairs to roads designated with three or four digits — those typically found in rural parts of the state.

The measure would also require the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct audits of SEPTA and the Pittsburgh Regional Transit. The legislation also mandates that the transit agencies pursue public-private partnerships and would allow illuminated advertising on the sides of buses, two proposals included in bills introduced by Senate Republicans, said Rep. Sean Dougherty, D-Philadelphia, the prime sponsor of HB 1788.