(The following story by Christopher Conkey appeared on the Wall Street Journal website on January 28, 2008.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Advocates for mass-transit and passenger-rail service scored two victories in the House version of the economic-stimulus bill, adding $3 billion in mass-transit spending and beating back a proposal to cut Amtrak funding.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York and several other House Democrats Wednesday put forward an amendment to the $825 billion economic-recovery package that would add $3 billion more in spending for mass-transit service. The amendment passed on a voice vote, bringing the total for public-transportation spending in the House bill to $12 billion. The House is expected to vote on its version of the bill on Wednesday evening.
The House rejected an amendment sponsored by Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona that would have stripped from the bill $800 million in funding for Amtrak and intercity-rail service. The measure also was defeated in a voice vote. Mr. Flake later asked for a roll-call vote, but the amendment isn’t expected to pass.
“How can we argue that this is good for the economy?” Mr. Flake asked, in arguing against any further federal support for Amtrak. He said the government essentially pays $210 for every person that rides an Amtrak train.
Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat who chairs the rail subcommittee, criticized Mr. Flake’s amendment after emerging from a hearing on freight- and passenger-rail conditions.
“I got some breaking news for you. There is no form of transportation that pays for itself. We subsidize all of it,” she said. “Kill this bad idea before it multiplies.”
Mr. Nadler, Ms. Brown and other members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are miffed that the House version of the economic-recovery bill contains less spending on rail and transit services than they had recommended. They have been urging a big boost in spending after the number of riders on Amtrak and many mass-transit lines surged to record levels last year. They have argued that bolstering rail and bus service helps create “green” jobs and gives consumers environmentally friendly transportation choices.
Advocates for rail and transit saluted Wednesday’s votes.
“This extra funding will go a long way to improve our rail systems and maintain the jobs needed to keep them running,” said Deron Lovaas, federal transportation policy director for the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental-advocacy group. “Congress is clearly catching up with public support for more and cleaner transportation choices.”
The House bill now contains $30 billion for road and bridges and roughly $12 billion for transit and rail projects. That would represent a major boost for transit in relation to highways, which usually receive four times as many federal dollars as transit.
The Senate bill contains slightly different levels of transportation spending but it is roughly equivalent to the House bill.