(The following article by Randy Benson was posted on the Holland Sentinel website on August 18.)
HOLLAND, Mich. — State funding for Amtrak service between Holland and Chicago is safe for now, but officials see a major battle looming over the issue in 2005 budget.
The state currently gives Amtrak $7.1 million annually to support the Pere Marquette line, which runs daily from Grand Rapids to Chicago with a stop in Holland, and the Blue Water Line, which runs from Port Huron to Chicago.
That funding appeared to be in jeopardy last week when a provision quietly inserted into a supplemental appropriations bill that passed both the House and Senate with virtually no opposition Aug. 4 came to light.
That bill contained an amendment by state Sen. Shirley Johnson, R-Royal Oak, requiring the state to equally fund Amtrak and competing transportation companies, such as Greyhound and Indian Trials bus lines. The bill was intended to put bus lines on equal footing in terms of state subsidies, but it was feared that elimination of the state rail subsidy could have led Amtrak to cancel the Pere Marquette and Blue Water routes.
However, a spokesman for the State Budget Office said the provision is unenforceable because it tries to change an appropriation that the state has already spent.
“Amtrak already has its money,” spokesman Greg Bird said.
Johnson, chairwoman of both the Senate transportation and appropiations committees, will not try to introduce another admendment, said Brian O’Connell, her chief of staff.
“We’re not going to contest it,” he told The Associated Press. “We want to bring it to people’s attention that we need fairness, and maybe this will bring everyone to the table.”
Those remarks seem to signal that the fight could begin again in the next few weeks as lawmakers write legislation for the 2005 fiscal year budget, which begins Oct. 1.
“It seems to be an annual story with Amtrak crying poverty and the state and the federal government saying they don’t have any more funds available,” Holland Mayor Al McGeehan said. “That is not good enough anymore.”
McGeehan is a believer in public mass transportation.
“It’s a necessity for our society, especially with the price of gas at $2 a gallon,” he said.
The Pere Marquette Line celebrated 20 consecutive years of service between Holland and Chicago on Aug. 5.
Ridership is growing on the line. In the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2003, the Pere Marquette carried 73,392 passangers, an increase of 22 percent over Amtrak’s previous fiscal year, and ridership is up an additional 11 percent in the last six months.
“I think there are a lot of businesses who would like to say their business is up nearly 12 percent,” McGeehan said. “West Michigan residents are voting for this service with there feet and with their wallets.”