Dedicated Funding for Amtrak - Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act

I'm surprised this wasn't brought up earlier. There is a bill to secure dedicated funding of $5.4 billion for Amtrak, with 40% of this funding going towards the Northeast Corridor.

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/in ... annel=news

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) have introduced the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act to create a dedicated funding stream for Amtrak.

The Act would establish a new federal trust fund to which approximately $5.4 billion would be added annually in grants for “repairs, trip time optimizing investments, improving service, modernizing the fleet and other needs,” the two legislators said, noting that 40% would be reserved for the Northeast Corridor (Washington-New York-Boston service) and 60% for state-supported and long-distance service lines.


In addition, funds would “remain available until expended, and could be used for both capital and operating needs,” according to the bill text.

Here is the bill text.

Wake me when it passes the Senate.

While this clearly is a positive development, keep in mind the legal principle than a past or present Congress cannot bind a future Congress. This bill, if enacted, could be repealed in the future.

charlesriverbranch wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:58 am Wake me when it passes the Senate.

Second the motion.

In addition, I think we are going to see a revamp of transportation funding, period, during this Administration.

Key points to watch here--
-White House verbal support
-Whether it gets rolled up into the Administration's $3tn infrastructure package

While this sounds like a good idea, Amtrak better make sure it spends it when it can. Having billions sitting around makes it easy to say you deserve more.

NJ has a governor who will not throw it away and build highways instead. Maryland is not so certain.

Cost control is important, but Gov. Chris Christie just played Godfather one too many times, and it wasn't even effective in the sense of reform.

President Biden's $2 Trillion plan per CNN
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d=msedgdhp
Funding amounts of particular concern for transportation, including railroads.....
Transportation: $621 billion
$115 billion to modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads and main streets,
$20 billion to improve road safety for all users.
$85 billion to modernize existing transit
$80 billion would go to address Amtrak's repair backlog and modernize the Northeast Corridor
$17 billion to inland waterways, ports and ferries
$25 billion to airports
$174 billion investment in the electric vehicle market
$105 billion ?????????????????
Here's how Biden plans to pay for it: Corporate tax hike: Biden would raise the corporate income tax rate to 28%, up from 21%.
They project it would take 15 years for this tax hike to raise $2 trillion in taxes.

$105 billion under transportation was not identified by CNN on where it will go. Maybe another news agency reported more details? Never-the-less, that amount is not enough to build HSR lines across the country considering the 456 mile NEC is going to get $80 billion. Additionally, some of it could be spent on "new" public transit projects or other "new" transportation projects. Much of Biden's transportation funding listed by CNN is going to fix or improve existing systems, not adding to them.

I do not expect Biden will sign two different infrastructure bills, get your project included into this one or wait until the next administration for funding.

kitchin wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:54 am NJ has a governor who will not throw it away and build highways instead. Maryland is not so certain.

Cost control is important, but Gov. Chris Christie just played Godfather one too many times, and it wasn't even effective in the sense of reform.

Gov. Larry Hogan has no love for rail, and would rather play shuffleboard with the buses and any transit than "fix" infrastructure that doesn't use asphalt.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 10:40 am

kitchin wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:54 am NJ has a governor who will not throw it away and build highways instead. Maryland is not so certain.

Cost control is important, but Gov. Chris Christie just played Godfather one too many times, and it wasn't even effective in the sense of reform.

Gov. Larry Hogan has no love for rail, and would rather play shuffleboard with the buses and any transit than "fix" infrastructure that doesn't use asphalt.

yup, he loves infrastructure built on vaporware.

I wonder how much of that NEC $80B will get tagged for Gateway or if that would even count.... This seems to be the one shot to get it funded, and I'm surprised it wasn't carved out specifically. Or maybe that's intentional, to avoid the appearance of NYS getting more funding so soon after their COVID bailout.

electricron wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:28 am Here's how Biden plans to pay for it: Corporate tax hike: Biden would raise the corporate income tax rate to 28%, up from 21%.
They project it would take 15 years for this tax hike to raise $2 trillion in taxes.

I'd love to see the assumptions on that 15 year payback... my guess is it will never happen, since increasing the corporate tax rate usually is met by a reduction in capital investment, especially by global firms who can just as easily choose to spend their money on a factory or fulfillment center in Mexico and not have to worry about being taxed at 28% or tariffs.

I'll also guess any change to the corporate tax hike is going to be met with resistance from big tech companies and retailers enjoying new-found profitability since COVID, but more importantly by small businesses as well as other medium to large companies hammered by a year of shutdowns and huge losses. When big business stops spending, it's small business who suffers as construction and service contracts start to dry up.

That alone might be enough pressure to risk getting the 50 Democrat votes needed to pass this via reconciliation. Reconciliation is only available once per budget year, so putting all eggs in this basket would prevent any other razor thin spending/taxing bills from going thru this fiscal year, including a future COVID relief bill if that becomes necessary.

Big businesses took their last tax cuts , and put them in their pockets with stock buy- backs. I believe any new tax legislation will target corporations and incentives them to build back better, right here in the USA. And the Infrastructure plan is the perfect place to start. You can't build the Gateway Tunnel in Mexico.

Dig the hole in Mexico, cut it into pieces, and bring it up the coast by barge.

pbj123 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 12:16 pm Big businesses took their last tax cuts , and put them in their pockets with stock buy- backs.

Evil corporations used their own profits to buy back stock?... Oh, the horrors. How much of that stock was then given out to employees in the form of grants and options? I know my employer did that...

If they took federal or state funds and bought back stock, perhaps you might have an argument.

Still no word on if this includes Gateway...

If Amtrak could not squeeze 10 of their $80 billions to
Gateway, they will never get enough cash to build it.