Uber says it has a solution to Pa.’s public transit funding problem. There’s a big catch.

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HARRISBURG — Uber is trying to sell Pennsylvania lawmakers on a partial solution to the two-month budget impasse, telling them it supports taxing ride-hailing trips statewide to raise desperately needed revenue for public transit.

But the pitch comes with a big stipulation: Uber will only support expanding the state’s 6% sales tax if the commonwealth classifies app-based drivers or couriers as independent contractors, not employees.

Doing so would achieve a longtime goal of tech firms and render moot a 2020 state court ruling that found that Uber drivers are not self-employed. That ruling allowed