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Major news this afternoon. The U.S. House just a few moments ago passed HR-6003, the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2008, by a veto-proof majority…. 311 to 104.
You’ll recall the Senate passed its version of the bill (S-294) by a 93 to 6 margin late last year. The next step will be for the bill to go to a joint House-Senate Conference Committee. The conferees have not yet been named.
This bill, if it becomes law, will not only greatly increase funding for Amtrak, but carries the first-ever state matching grant program that can advance the Ohio Hub Plan and state-generated passenger rail plans like it around the nation.
Here’s how Ohio’s Congressional delegation voted today:
Nay OH-1 Chabot, Steven [R]
Nay OH-2 Schmidt, Jean [R]
Aye OH-3 Turner, Michael [R]
Nay OH-4 Jordan, Jim [R]
Nay OH-5 Latta, Robert [R]
Aye OH-6 Wilson, Charles [D]
Nay OH-7 Hobson, David [R]
Nay OH-8 Boehner, John [R]
No Vote OH-9 Kaptur, Marcy [D]
Aye OH-10 Kucinich, Dennis [D]
Aye OH-11 Jones, Stephanie [D]
Aye OH-12 Tiberi, Patrick [R]
Aye OH-13 Sutton, Betty [D]
Aye OH-14 LaTourette, Steven [R]
Aye OH-15 Pryce, Deborah [R]
Aye OH-16 Regula, Ralph [R]
Aye OH-17 Ryan, Timothy [D]
Aye OH-18 Space, Zackary [D]
Related Stories:
- The Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act
- Strickland wants 3-C Passenger Rail Restored
HOORAY! :D
Migod, I may actually send a thank you note to Pryce for this!
Absolutely thank our Central Ohio House members…. it is highly unusual for Pryce and Tiberi to favor a mjaor piece of passenger rail legislation such as this. Let them know you appreciate it and urge them to uphold it over a threatened Presidential veto.
Note of appreciation is sent.
I’ll reach out as well. Bring on the Ohio Hub!
I can’t believe I would ever thank PAT TIBERI for Christ’s sake. But I did and praised him for his “aye” decision.
Thanking your rep is as easy as clicking here:
[url]https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml[/url]
Emailed! :D
Details on the passage of HR-6003 from cnn.com:
[color=darkblue:a24a4fb422]House approves Amtrak funding
WASHINGTON (AP) — A nearly $15 billion Amtrak bill passed the House on Wednesday as lawmakers rallied around an alternative for travelers saddled with soaring gas prices.
The bipartisan bill, which passed by a veto-proof margin of 311-104, would authorize funding for the national passenger railroad over the next five years. Some of the money would go to a program of matching grants to help states set up or expand rail service.
more at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/11/amtrak.congress.ap/index.html
that’s a big ole’ flippin’ bag of YAY!
Yeah, getting Tiberi and Pryce on board (no pun intended) is big.
I’m pretty sure all or almost all of the “nay” voters were from the western part of the state. The Republicans from up around Canton, including Ralph Regula, who represents this area, voted “aye” as well. Given that distances between metro areas up here are very well spaced for intercity rail (Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh are too close for air but can be inconvenient drives), I think that was very pragmatic of them, given the aid that this bill will give the Ohio Hub.
It never occurred to me before now that we didn’t have Amtrak. It would be nice for me to have an alternative to the bus whenever I wanna go somewhere (I leave flying for major long-distance trips, like to the west coast).
I emailed Ms. Pryce as well.
anything that helps the ohio hub project, and the reinvestment in intracity freight rail are possibly the best things our local congress critters could be doing for US right now in the long run.
this news has made me very happy even though the bill process still has a long way to go.
this news has made me very happy even though the bill process still has a long way to go.
I think this one actually has a legit shot at clearing the Senate. There are no major voting blocs against it, so the only real blockers you’d find are those with principled aversion to all government spending. Those types are fewer in number than more pragmatic fiscal conservatives, and likely can’t form a blocking minority anymore without the latter. That means that if supporters get Republicans like Voinovich and Collins on board, it stands a decent shot at making it past any threatened filibuster. I don’t think Bush would veto it, either, honestly.
I thanked congresswoman Pryce.
Nice going everyone on the thank you’s.
BTW: The US Senate passed their version of this bill late last year… by a margin of 93 to 6 (easily enough to override a future veto). Voinovich, sad to say, voted against it, while Sen. Brown not only was among the “ayes”, but was a co-sponsor of the bill as well.
The House margin (311 to 104) is also easily enought to override a veto.
But keep those e-mails and phone calls coming.
Wow … surprised Voinovich was in the minority on that. Wonder what his objection was, given how many other Republicans (including many significantly further right tham he is) must have voted in favor.
Meh. C’est la vie.
P.S. noozer: When you say the Senate passed “their version” of this bill, I take it that means that they didn’t actually pass this specific bill? In other words, the two versions are each now bouncing to the other house, rather than one version to the president’s desk?
This is actually a pretty common occurrence.
The two bills will be sent to a conference committee containing members of both houses to be reconciled. Once a compromise is met the changes are written up as a conference report and must be approved by both houses and then the bill is passed to the president to be signed.
This is actually a pretty common occurrence.
The two bills will be sent to a conference committee containing members of both houses to be reconciled. Once a compromise is met the changes are written up as a conference report and must be approved by both houses and then the bill is passed to the president to be signed.
Yeah, I was just checking to know if that’s the stage they’d reached. I know more than I care to know about the conference committee/reconciliation process. I got an excruciating rundown on the whole Byzantine system in Federal Fiscal & Budgetary Law. :?
I emailed Ms. Pryce as well.
This was my initial knee-jerk reaction as well, although I fly all the time for business to just about anywhere. So, I thought I’d look up current Amtrak routes and get a feel for costs. For example, for a round-trip ride to Boston and back for a week, you’re going to spend around $260-$400 and spend at least 16 hours in a train/train station. You can get a flight for around $300-$350 and spend around 1/4 to 1/3 the time.
Some other folks mentioned in another article (sorry Walker, I’m too lazy to go look it up right now) that they thought the rail and the whole Ohio Hub project would be helpful for in-state travel or regional travel, but not otherwise. I can now see why.
Not putting a downer on the legislation: I’m very happy about it and I’m a huge proponent of alternative transportation. I just wanted to share my findings in hopes of keeping the potential in perspective.
Also, I believe gramarye cited that most of the Republicans from the western part of the state voted against it. That’s probably because that’s where the majority of Amtrak stations already exist in Ohio. It doesn’t surprise me if that is the case. The rest of us want in! :D
This was my initial knee-jerk reaction as well, although I fly all the time for business to just about anywhere. So, I thought I’d look up current Amtrak routes and get a feel for costs. For example, for a round-trip ride to Boston and back for a week, you’re going to spend around $260-$400 and spend at least 16 hours in a train/train station. You can get a flight for around $300-$350 and spend around 1/4 to 1/3 the time.
don’t forget amtrak tends to run about 40% off if you book two weeks in advance.
cleveland to bos (south station) is $85 going east on the lake shore limited (july 13th as my example date) 16 hour trip, so bring a pillow, a flask of whiskey, and a good book.
westbound is $105 and is only a 14 hour trip.
Drink up and sleep. Relax, visit the snack bar and grab a Sam Adams, chit chat with your fellow passengers or whatnot It’s really rather comfortable on those trains. 16 hours wouldn’t bother me at all.
$190 round trip is going to be hard for the airlines to beat soon. Don’t forget flying adds several hours just arriving at the airports early and sitting on the stupid tarmac or whatever because it’s slightly rainy in some other airport and everyone is delayed or whatever their excuse is that day.