A bill making its way through the Pennsylvania legislature is aimed at making the purchasing process for used police vehicles easier.

House Bill 251, introduced by State Rep. Bob Merski, would require the state Department of General Services (DGS), which sells used Pennsylvania State Police vehicles at public auctions, to create a program for selling used police pursuit vehicles directly to local and regional police departments at a fixed price before auctioning them to the public.

“Every dollar we can save government is a windfall for taxpayers, and that includes large-ticket expenditures like police fleetupgrades, which can pose major obstacles for stretched department budgets,” Merski said. “By giving local and regional police departments a means for purchasing used pursuit vehicles at a fixed price before they go to auction, my bill would help departments meet critical public safety demands while saving taxpayers – a win for everyone.”

Merski said the program would allow police departments to submit a “wish-list” of desired state police vehicles to DGS so it can be notified if such a vehicle becomes available for sale.

The bill, which was approved unanimously by the House State Government Committee on June 28, now heads to the full House for consideration. A prior version of the bill was voted out of committee in March 2021.