(The following editorial was posted on the Bloomington Pantograph website on June 20.)
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Why doesn’t Washington just give Amtrak $1.24 billion and save a lot of arguing and threats that get so many people worked up.
A House subcommittee has fired the first shot, recommending only $550 million for Amtrak as part of a transportation bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. That includes $110 million for subsidizing tickets on money-losing routes, but subsidies would be limited to $30 per passenger, per ride.
The per passenger subsidy limit is a way to address the mismanagement of Amtrak that allows the Sunset Limited to continue running between Los Angeles and Orlando, even though subcommittee chairman Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Michigan, said it is costing taxpayers subsidies of more than $400 per rider.
Amtrak has asked for $1.8 billion, knowing it won’t get that much. Amtrak received $1.2 billion this year, so it may need a 3 percent boost to keep up with the cost of living.
The White House and lawmakers have threatened for years to pull the plug on Amtrak or drastically reduce its budget to the point that it will be forced to cut money-losing routes. Neither has happened. Nor will it happen this year.
Thirty-one states would loose Amtrak service under the subcommittee recommendation, according to Rep. John Olver, D-Mass. You know the Senate is not going to let that happen even if a majority of the House members go along with its subcommittee.
If there is a “good” part of this childish, annual game, the House subcommittee’s recommended service cuts would not apply to most Amtrak service in the busy Northeast corridor or shorter corridor routes in the Midwest and California — constituting about 80 percent of Amtrak’s ridership. That’s a pretty strong indication that Amtrak service should be maintained between Chicago and St. Louis through Dwight, Pontiac, Bloomington-Normal and Lincoln.
Too much time and energy is being spent arguing over a public service whose reforms will never meet lawmakers’ expectations and will always be subsidized.