(Medill News Service circulated the following story by Deborah Hirsch on November 4.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hoping to reduce shipping costs, Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., has signed on as a co-sponsor of legislation that would compel rail carriers to use more competitive prices.
The bill aims to protect shippers who do not have access to more than one railway — often the case for many Montana grain farmers who have no choice but to use the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
The House Railroad Competition Act of 2003 was created in late July, following an identical Senate bill introduced in April by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and backed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.
Rehberg is one of nine co-sponsors to the bill, authored by Rep. Richard Baker, R-La.
“Producers in Montana, already strapped by steep input costs and narrow profit margins, need a solution to the high costs associated with uncompetitive rail shipping prices in the state,” Rehberg said in a statement.
On average, Montana shippers pay 30 percent more per bushel of product than those in other states with more than one railroad, said Erik Iverson, Rehberg’s chief of staff.
The House bill has been referred to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Senate version is being considered by the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.