Over-Spending On Highways, Walker Responds With Cut To Amtrak Hiawatha Funding
Not content with killing Amtrak service to Madison and train-assembling jobs at Talgo in Milwaukee, Scott Walker now wants to bleed $1.1 million from one of the most successful Amtrak lines in recent history to help close (with some road project delays) a looming road-building deficit, the Journal Sentinel reports.
And cut another $4.3 million from local road aids, so enjoy the potholes, because more of them will only get bigger.
Furthermore, if I read p. 460 of the Walker budget correctly, the plan was to remove all federal transportation funding from the Amtrak line because state funding would cover it.
Until today's announcement.
Page 460
PASSENGER RAIL SERVICEGovernor:
We'll see if The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, with plenty of members' employees who commute on The Hiawatha daily trains to Chicago, can turn around this brain-dead 'budgeting' and get anything out of business community's campaign investments to the Walker machine.Reduce funding by $4,488,700 annually to eliminate base funding in the FED appropriation for passenger rail service. The Department indicates that the base SEG funding of $7,198,800 for passenger rail service is sufficient to fund anticipated costs for contracting with Amtrak for the state's share of the Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee in the 2013-15 biennium.
Wisconsin partners in a contract with Illinois to keep The Hiawatha operating, but Illinois is learning that Wisconsin is not open to partnership.
19 comments:
Federal operating funding for Amtrak routes under 750 miles is going away because of policies enacted by the federal government as a result of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.
Those subsidies are certainly avaialable now, but the Walker Admin has chosen to use those funds for highways instead (it seems to be flex funding, but I don't know for sure).
Actually, the $1.1 million reduction would be OK, as it's a reflection of how well the Hiawatha line has been doing that they don't need as much of a subsidy. Now whether they should be adding service instead of cutting costs? That's a legitimate question.
The bigger issue is that the Walker folks now want to cut local road aids, which is on top of cuts they made 2 years ago, and with lower state shared revenues and levy limits. You think potholes are bad now? You ain't seen nothing yet.
But there's still more than enough money for the Road Builders and highway construction. Speaks to priorities.
A collision is brewing with less sales tax revenue is collected as higher mileage vehicles decrease gasoline sales.
So, employees living in Illinois are getting Wisconsin subsidized transportation to and from work? Cut state aid totally. Nobody helps me with my car payment.
The Amtrak line reduces auto congestion on I-94, opens parking at the destinations and helps truckers make scheduled deliveries, kee[s the air cleaner, etc. Everyone benefits.
All our car travel is subsidized or supported by people who are not direct users. They pay local and state taxes for road construction, maintenance, plowing, patrolling, too.
Along with gas tax collections nationally that pay some but not all road costs.
And gas prices are kept low through federal tax breaks to producers, allowing you to operate your car at a lower price.
There's plenty of government assistance that keeps driving costs much lower in the US than in Europe, for example and good reasons for the much smaller assistance to transit that is there if you need it.
Points well taken James. But again, not one penny goes for my car payment other than my own.
It all come out of what's left of my pay check once all the government programs and subsudizes operating for a loss are contributed to.
not one penny goes for my car payment other than my own.
And, since you are sole owner of your car, none should.
Seriously? How does this have to be explained?
I blame the teacher's unions for eliminating all those Civics classes.
Arggh. Did I forget the italics tags on that quote again? Oddly, this is the only site that ever happens to me.
not one penny goes for my car payment other than my own.
that part should have been italicized, as a quote. Myself, I don't expect other people's money to pay for my car.
"Points well taken James. But again, not one penny goes for my car payment other than my own. "
When I board a train, I wear shoes I paid for myself too. So what?
Roads are an incredibly expensive and highly subsidized system you have to pay for, but to use, you also have to buy a car.
Transit is far less subsidized and expensive, and to use it you just need a pair of shoes.
"When I board a train, I wear shoes I paid for myself too. So what?"
So what?
I helped pay for your set of wheels on a track and I help to reduce your fair.
I'm driving my car barefoot because the I can't ride the reduced fair train. It doesn't go to where I have a job.
What would be more fair is having the train run at a profit and use those profits to reduce road maintenance costs so the majority of the population who don't have point A to point B jobs can buy shoes.
"I helped pay for your set of wheels on a track and I help to reduce your fair.
"
And that still amounts to far less money than what it takes to get a train system up and running.
Systems that run rubber wheels on blacktop wear out a lot faster and cost a lot more to maintain than those that run steel wheels on steel tracks.
The fact that the former system also requires you to spend even more money on a vehicle apart from the subsid you require, well, that makes it worse, not better.
helped pay for your set of wheels on a track and I help to reduce your fair.
And I helped pay for all the roads you drive on and reduce the cost of your gas. So what? Taxes pay for stuff we all use. Your car is something YOU use.
The fact you don't choose to use mass transit doesn't invalidate that as a society, we choose to pay for it. Stop whining.
It doesn't go to where I have a job.
Good point. The solution is MORE mass transit, not less.
"Good point. The solution is MORE mass transit, not less."
Or better land usage/zoning/etc. Not every piece of new construction has to happen on former farmland only reachable by roads.
@ Zombie wrote:
"It doesn't go to where I have a job.
Good point. The solution is MORE mass transit, not less."
Noonie mouse, have you ever ventured out of the concrete jungle into the modern world of the work place? Are you suggesting everyone should have a train to their employers doorstep? Or by mass transit are you suggesting we fire-up more diesel buses that run on roads with rubber tires, roads I help pay for.
If mass transit riders paid for mass transit vehicles, fuel and maintenance costs fully, just like I do for my car, and without subsidizes there would be nothing to complain about.
Alas, I bettered myself because I wanted to by own a car and can afford one. James has one too.
"
Noonie mouse, have you ever ventured out of the concrete jungle into the modern world of the work place? Are you suggesting everyone should have a train to their employers doorstep?"
If my income taxes hadn't paid to maintain the roads going to your employer, and the employer had to pay himself the full cost, he would move closer into town where there is mass transit.
Now you can go on and on about how you own your own car, but the fact remains: your use of your car is more subsidized, and makes you more of a parasite, than mass transit users.
Or better land usage/zoning/etc. Not every piece of new construction has to happen on former farmland only reachable by roads.
Excellent point. Why not both?
I wanted to by own a car and can afford one.
Than why are you whining that other people should pay for it?
Also, "Nonnie Mouse" (or "Noonie Mouse" and points for creativity or typoo!) is gentle loving mockery of commenters who can't be bothered (or can't figure it out) to pick a nym for comment boards, thus adding to confusion about who is saying what. I have a nym. See that thing up there that says ZRM? Nym.
have you ever ventured out of the concrete jungle into the modern world of the work place?
Are you suggesting that there are not jobs in the city? Then what is that thing I go to nearly every day, where I do some assortment of tasks and they send me money?
Also, "Concrete Jungle": Hilarious antique dog-whistle. Also excellent song by the Specials.
This is cool!
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