HARRISBURG, November 8, 2007 - State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione has reintroduced a bill that would help protect transit workers from violent assaults.

     Tartaglione said Senate Bill 1149 is intended to stem a growing number of attacks on employees of Pennsylvania’s public transit systems.

     “It’s disheartening that such action is necessary,” Tartaglione said. “But toughening the law will send the message that we intend to protect workers who have to face an increasingly stressed and hostile public.”

     Under the 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.

     "Both SEPTA and the Port Authority of Pittsburgh have compiled hundreds of Employee Injury Reports that involve assaults on their drivers," Tartaglione said. "This bill would be an important deterrent by dispensing appropriate punishment for those who take their anger and frustration out on vulnerable workers."

     Tartaglione lauded Philadelphia’s Transit Workers Union for helping with the effort.  Two years ago the Senate passed a similar measure, but it was never voted on in the House.