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With SEPTA’s service cuts in full swing and a state budget more than eight weeks overdue, many are wondering how close Pennsylvania lawmakers are to reaching a deal to secure funding for the transit agency.

Both a Democratic-backed transit funding bill and a Republican-supported funding plan to cover SEPTA’s $213 million budget deficit failed to move forward before the transit agency’s deadline on Aug. 14. As a result, the first part of SEPTA’s so-called “transit death spiral” began on Sunday, Aug. 24, as the transit agency eliminated 32 bus routes and reduced 88 other routes, leading to delays and crowded buses, subways and trolleys on the first day of classes in the Philadelphia School District on Monday, Aug. 25.

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