Hotline #169-A - December 16, 2000

The 106th Congress adjourned December 15 without including the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA) in the final omnibus budget package.

NARP and other supporters of HSRIA were cautiously optimistic about getting HSRIA into such legislation. The language of HSRIA was part of a tax package conference report (H.R.2614) that was approved by the House on October 26 -- indeed, some of the items from H.R.2614 did get included in what was approved December 15.

In the and, a major obstacle appears to have been opposition to HSRIA from Senators McCain (R.-Ariz.) and Gramm (R.-Tex.), and the unwillingness of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R.-Miss.) to "stare them down." The result was that the anti-rail views of two Senators were given more weight than the pro-rail views of the 57 HSRIA Senate co-sponsors.

Another major factor was President Clinton's unwillingness to veto the omnibus if it didn't include HSRIA (as he threatened to do over other issues). Although the President talked up high-speed rail in his 1992 campaign, he allowed his Administration to spend most of 2000 debating the HSRIA rather than actively advocating it on the Hill. Only at the 11th hour did the Treasury Department relax its objections, and then only after getting "concessions" that would have reduced the actual rail investment level the bill could produce. This year's experience underlines the probability that passenger rail won't get the investment that it needs until the highway and aviation trust funds are opened to transportation spending -- not just locked into mode-specific accounts.

In all, the record of the 106th Congress is one of disappointment -- record levels of highway and aviation spending, and the lowest level in over a decade on passenger rail. When people are stuck in crowded airports or truck-filled highways and wonder why there aren't other alternatives, and when people are on trains that don't go fast enough or often enough, they should remember the inability of the 106th Congress and the Clinton Administration to do something about it jointly. They should remember that (as in so many things), you get what you pay for -- and so far, the U.S. has paid for a crowded aviation system, a crowded highway system, and an underdeveloped rail system (and gotten it).

But they should also work to see that the 107th Congress and the new Bush Administration don't make the same mistakes. Rational investment in passenger rail is possible. It can be supported by a broad range of legislators (as we saw with HSRIA). It's not too early to educate the new government about the need for a transportation policy that invests in all modes.