(The following article by Richard Harrold was posted on the Holland Sentinel website on August 12.)
HOLLAND, Mich. — A local lawmaker said that a bill waiting for Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s signature could either shut down Holland’s Amtrak service or raise ticket prices considerably.
State Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, said he voted for the bill unaware that it would eliminate Amtrak’s state subsidy unless other money is made available for other land services, such as bus lines.
“This is certainly more than what I thought it was,” Kuipers said Wednesday.
Earlier this month the state House and Senate passed the supplemental appropriations bill, which adjusts the funding various agencies receive this fiscal year. The legislation contains a clause that would require the state to pay the same amount of money — $7.1 million — to bus companies as it does to Amtrak.
“If they have to give equal amounts, it could possibly shut them (the Amtrak lines) down,” said Rep. Lauren Hager, a Republican from Port Huron Township. “The impact would be devastating. They (Amtrak) need so much subsidy to keep operations going.”
Kuipers said that the bill appears to be an effort to get rid of the Amtrak subsidy and get the rail company’s attention because it did not participate in earlier budgeting talks despite being invited.
“I don’t know where this is going to end up,” Kuipers said. “But it doesn’t mean that Amtrak should take the subsidy for granted.”
Currently the state subsidy on a one-way ticket from Grand Rapids to Chicago is $40, Kuipers said. Bus lines are competing on the same corridor.
“Indian Trails and Greyhound were slowly being put out of business,” Kuipers said. “If (the rail service) doesn’t go away because of this bill, it will certainly cost more.”
Indian Trails gets about $4.5 million a year in state help, Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Benjamin Kohrman said Thursday.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said it’s too early to say how the bill, if signed, would affect the rail service. When asked if service could be stopped, Magliari said, “That’s one of the things we’re looking into. It’s certainly very troubling.”
Steve Bulthuis, transportation program manager for the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council based in Holland also is worried about the bill.
“It does have the potential of resulting in a reduction or elimination of service on the Pere Marquette, and to that end, we are concerned about that,” Bulthuis said.
State Sen. Shirley Johnson, R-Royal Oak, who is the Senate Transportation Committee chairwoman, included a section in the bill that calls for the Michigan Department of Transportation to give the same amount of funding to competing transportation companies, such as Indian Trails Inc. bus service, as it gives to Amtrak.
If the money isn’t equal, neither company would be funded, the bill says.
Holland City Manager Soren Wolff said that it would be a blow to the city if Amtrak service was no longer available in Holland.
“That would be a very unfortunate situation,” Wolff said. “We’ve battled this two or three times in the past. Ridership has been increasing.”
So far this fiscal year — which runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 — 76,754 people traveled on the line from Port Huron to Chicago. During the same period last fiscal year, 66,505 people traveled the route, Amtrak said.
Granholm was reviewing the section of the bill and the type of impact it would have if she signs it, said Greg Bird, spokesman for the State Budget Office.
The subsidy helps Amtrak run its routes from Grand Rapids to Chicago, which includes service to Holland, and from Port Huron to Chicago.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.