SENATE PASSES TARTAGLIONE BILL PROTECTING TRANSIT WORKERS

            “The number of assaults committed against public transportation employees has increased substantially over the last few years,” Tartaglione told her colleagues. “These assaults endanger lives and put innocent citizens at risk.”

            In the wake of recent violence against transit workers, Tartaglione pushed the bill through committee and a floor vote.

            On March 6, a 53-year-old SEPTA driver was treated for cuts at a local hospital after a bullet shattered his side window.

            Under Tartaglione’s bill, assault on a transit worker that results in bodily injury becomes a second-degree felony.  If the injury is serious, the assailant can be charged with a first-degree felony.  The maximum penalty for a first-degree felony is 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.  The maximum penalty for a second-degree felony is 10 years in prison.