(The following story by Jordan Blum appeared on The Advocate website on June 16, 2009.)
BATON ROUGE, La. — Legislation aimed at ramping up train and railroad crossing safety failed by a wide margin Monday in the House.
Opponents complained that it increased the size of state government and increased fees on railroad companies.
House Bill 835 would have added state railroad inspectors to aid their federal counterparts, but the issue has been mired in litigation.
HB835 failed on a 50-45 vote, falling 20 votes shy of the needed two-thirds House vote.
“We’re talking about expanding state government, and we’re passing on the fee to industry,” said state Rep. Thomas Carmody Jr., R-Shreveport.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Robert Johnson, R-Marksville, warned that the blood of railroad-related accident and chemical spill victims would be on the shoulders of those who opposed the bill.
Several legislator’s booed Johnson’s “blood” comments.
Johnson then tried appealing to the fiscal side of legislators. “These derailments and these accidents cost the railroads a lot of dollars,” Johnson said.
There were 51 train derailments last year in Louisiana, he said.
“This is not about picking on railroads,” said state Rep. Karen St. Germain, D-Pierre Part. “This is about your constituents.”
Nine people have died and 25 others been injured in 61 crashes at railroad crossings between August and February, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
In 1970, the Federal Railroad Administration created a system in which states could augment the oversight by federal inspectors.
Thirty states employ 160 inspectors who look for defects and violations of the safety protocols of about 700 railroads nationwide, according to the FRA.