(Copley News Service circulated the following article by Mike Ramsey on February 28.)
CHICAGO — Not all passenger-rail advocates are alarmed by the White House’s recent proposals to cut federal Amtrak subsidies and make states responsible for train service.
Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi said he “went off the deep end” early this month when the Bush administration first suggested halting Amtrak funding. Now, more calmly, he says the ensuing debate may finally result in a national rail-development program and put an end to yearly “donnybrooks” in Congress about money-losing Amtrak.
“I think that the states are prepared to take on a greater responsibility if they see that there’s a light at the end of tunnel,” Busalacchi, whose state seeks to expand passenger rail, said Friday. “The federal government’s really going to have to become a partner … We’ve got an opportunity here, and we can’t let it pass.”
The Bush administration’s budget for the federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would reduce Amtrak funding from $1.2 billion to nothing and bankrupt the national passenger railroad. In a related move, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has revived a failed proposal from 2003 that would shift rail responsibilities and operating costs to the states, though the federal government would offer matching capital grants of at least 50 percent to improve infrastructure and buy equipment. Amtrak would remain as an operator but face competition.
Critics of the White House restructuring plan predict the end of long-distance trains, saying it would be hard to get several interlocking states to agree to terms. Shorter “corridor” routes, such as Illinois’ Chicago-to-St. Louis line that stops in Springfield, may survive, they concede, but states can’t handle additional costs.
“We do have some very real budgetary constraints,” said Jason Tai, the Illinois Department of Transportation’s new director of public and intermodal transportation. He did not take a position on Mineta’s reform plan, pending details. “Our subsidies for Amtrak come out of general revenue, and so that’s an area which is very scarce. There are a lot of things that are competing for dollars out of that pot.”
Illinois pays Amtrak $12 million annually to run daily trains within the state and is second only to California in the amount of money it spends on intercity passenger rail. IDOT also has invested $80 million on an upgrade of the Chicago-to-St. Louis rail corridor as part of a high-speed rail initiative. State officials have been waiting for the federal government to establish a capital program for passenger rail similar to the program that funds highways. The Mineta plan includes one.
“I think this is the best chance we’ve had in a decade” to establish a grant program, Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association said. “We need to make it clear that this country really has to have effective passenger rail service.”
In Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposed state budget for the next fiscal year beginning July 1, IDOT would continue to pay Amtrak $12 million to run daily trains within Illinois and from Chicago to Milwaukee. Negotiations would determine whether the railroad would provide a similar level of service.
Mineta, who appeared at Chicago’s Union Station on Feb. 14, continues to travel around the country to push for changes in Amtrak, which has absorbed nearly $30 billion in federal subsidies since it was created in the early 1970s to take over dwindling passenger service from private railroads.
Amtrak board chairman David Laney, an appointee of President Bush, sent a letter to Congress Feb. 17 that rejected the “status quo” but stopped short of endorsing the White House’s funding proposal. A follow-up communication is expected later.
“Status quo at Amtrak is neither viable nor acceptable,” Laney wrote. “To effect needed reforms at Amtrak, however, ‘zero’ is not the right number at this juncture.”
Congress may choose to ignore the Bush administration and simply OK another annual subsidy for Amtrak. The White House plan has drawn bipartisan opposition. In Illinois, Republican congressmen such as Ray LaHood of Peoria and Jerry Weller of Morris have rejected Mineta’s proposal.
“All programs need to be looked at for efficiencies,” Weller said in a statement issued Friday. “However, I’m particularly sensitive to proposals impacting Amtrak. I have been a tremendous supporter of Amtrak for years. Amtrak plays an integral role in the continued jobs creation and economic growth in central Illinois.”