Hotline #929 - May 10, 1996

The Senate still has not acted on the Amtrak authorization bill, S.1318. It may come up next week, but more likely the week of May 20. There is still time to contact Senators. There have been two key changes.

First, ISTEA flexibility for states to spend money on intercity passenger rail is now out of the bill, so there won't be an anti-flexibility amendment from Senator Warner (R.-Va.). Instead, Senators Roth and Biden of Delaware will offer an amendment to restore that language. A similar Roth-Biden amendment passed last year by a two-to-one margin.

Second, the terrible amendment from Grassley (R.-Ia.) to privatize Amtrak, in part by getting rid of long-distance trains, is no longer expected.

We still expect three other bad amendments. One from Senator McCain (R.-Ariz.) would trigger a sale of Amtrak assets in 2002 if government grants cover more than 15% of Amtrak's total costs then.

One from Senator Breaux (D.-La.) would prevent Amtrak from entering into shared liability responsibility arrangements with freight railroads. That would greatly inflate Amtrak operating costs. One from Senator Hollings (D.-S.C.) would prohibit caps on liability awards.

So the message to your Senators is to pass S.1318; oppose amendments from McCain, Breaux, and Hollings, and support the Roth-Biden amendment.

NARP wrote to President Clinton yesterday urging him to reconsider a May 6 administration policy statement on Amtrak that strongly opposed caps on punitive damage awards.

Senator Dole (R.-Kans.) and other Republicans are saying that gas taxed should only fund road projects. This ignores big problems highway users cause but don't pay for. As the Surface Transportation Policy Project said in a letter to President Clinton, which NARP signed, "Solving these problems will only be more difficult if we step back from one of the few positive market signals for energy conservation adopted in recent years." The Association of American Railroads favors repeal of the 4.3-cent tax. The AAR also wants to repeal another 1.25-cent tax paid only by railroads, but the House and Senate bills didn't address that. Clinton said he would sign the repeal bill if there is a "clean" vote on the minimum wage.

The Administration, incidentally, is considering having President Clinton ride a special train from Washington to the Democratic convention in Chicago this summer.

President Clinton appointed a Presidential Emergency Board on May 8 to block a strike by the Transportation Communications Union. Such a strike could have escalated to national proportions, like the ones in 1991 and 1992. The next strike possibility would be in mid-July.

This week, the Amtrak board approved the purchase of 98 more diesel locomotives from General Electric, for $235 million. The first one will arrive in September.

The Washington DOT today announced an order for three Talgo trains for permanent use on the Seattle-Portland line. The trains would arrive in 1998. Meanwhile, one leased Talgo is still in use, and will be joined by a second one in a week.

California Gov. Pete Wilson (R.) yesterday endorsed legislation that would transfer control of certain Amtrak corridors from the state to local transit authorities. The May 2 Sacramento Bee editorialized against the idea, saying it threatens a coordinated, statewide network.

A special excursion train, the Suntan Special, will run on May 18 from the Oakland Amtrak station to Santa Cruz, Cal.