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New Illinois governor proposes big Amtrak, transit cuts
Just another Republican, conservative governor, doing what they do best. Moving their respective state backwards instead of forwards in terms of progression. I wonder how far this one can take Illinois backwards. He’ll have to move fast if he’s going to catch up with Oklahoma. We rank 46th in the nation for education, pay the 3rd highest car insurance in the nation, and rank in the top 5 states for the number of homicides. The state economy is tanking because we depend so much on the petroleum industry and the high cost of oil.
Fiscal responsibility is one of the duties of an elected executive. If your ox gets gored, too bad, responsibility is more important than a political reward for loyality or the convenience of a few.
Gee Mr. Haws, I guess that means you’re not a Republican.
Rich folks don’t ride the train.
Just what we need, more road construction. Another stupid Governor!!!
Typical “pro road” Republican leadership. Bought and paid for by the highway lobbyist. This is getting so old.
Its not a Dem or Republican issue. Otherwise, we would be at the peak of a passenger rail renisaunce under the current administration. I blame almost 45 years of apparently ineffective passenger rail advocacy.
Of course, the real issue is unwillingness to levy taxes to pay for stuff. All the rest is smoke and mirrors to mask the bait and switch. Why should anyone be surprised at the public’s degree of cynicism rising to that of the pols?
It used to be that passenger train advocacy was a bipartisan effort. After all, Nixon signed the legislation creating Amtrak. In recent years, the far right wing has taken over the Republican party and has opposed anything that doesn’t only benefit the extreme rich. Once President Obama became an advocate of high speed rail, the Republicans (mostly) lined up against rail plans.
Bob, I’m not a Democrat either but manage to vote when I’m allowed to.
Forget raising taxes. You have competing modes of transportation which are and will continue to be lavishly financed by the taxpayer. Its time to switch this generousity to passenger rail.
No one knew what Mr. Rauner was about during the campaign??? Was he really that good he was able to keep his transportation priorities under wraps all through the campaign and so his proposals now seem like such a shock?
Yes Illinois has huge budget problems and unfunded public employee pension plans and some strong medicine is certainly needed. And past administrations have continually kicked that can down the road or railroad ROW, if you prefer.
Elections matter. But NARP and it’s state affiliates claim studies show that the new generation are not so interested in cars, are driving less and riding Amtrak and transit more. I don’t know if that’s true but if it is how do we reconcile that with what the Rauners, the Walkers, the Kasiches, et.al are doing? Are they really doing smackdowns of their constituents transportation wishes under the backing of well-connected, deep-pocketed lobbyists and highway builders? Maybe the intercity bus industry lobbyists too as well as the rideshare outfits. Guess who’s become the face of Uber? President Obama’s former inner circle trusted aide, David Plouffe.
All the high-falutin talk by the president when he first took office about bringing passenger rail back into the mainstream. Not only did he not walk the walk, not only did his administration not produce officials who would continue that effort after serving, but it produced a powerful, well connected person trumpeting the very antithesis of Metra and the CTA.
To continue, the last paragraph amply illustrates how pathetic and ineffectual 45 years of NARP advocacy has been. “This bad proposal…” It’s only “bad” depending on your transportation priorities. And after 45 years of NARP we still have governors not convinced that passenger trains are worth the investment that ever more and widened highways are. Who’s fault is that?
As a passenger train supporter I am very disappointed by these cuts, yet somewhat relieved that Rauner didn’t propose eliminating Amtrak from the budget entirely. Rauner inherited a huge budget mess that former Governor Quinn covered by raiding the pension fund for state employees
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These cuts are actually a very small part of the cuts he is proposing, and reinstating them wouldn’t blow a huge hole in Rauner’s budget. However, other state agencies and recipients will be fighting to retain their funding too. The budget that counts is not Rauner’s proposal, but the one that he is able to negotiate with the Democratic leaders in the legislature. I am sure these leaders will want to propose some sort of increased revenue to reduce the impact of the cuts. Yet, high taxes may be a part of the reason that businesses are leaving Illinois and increased taxes could stifle growth and hurt the state’s budget in the long run.
I seriously hope that the final budget holds service at existing levels, at a minimum. I also hope to see the Quad Cities and Rockford services move forward at some point. I do support the road funding as our roads are in terrible shape.
I find it interesting that 130 million is only 4.4% of the state’s funding for Metra. This would mean that the state spends nearly 3 billion annually on Metra, versus 46 million on Amtrak. It would be interesting to see how this breaks down per passenger mile. I am sure Metra moves far more passengers, but usually for less miles.
Illinois is one of the most passenger rail friendly states in the U.S., I for one believe High Speed rail is HUGE waste of money, but traditional rail is worth the investment and NECCESSARY. I think Quinn fouled it up SO bad, people just blamed the entire party and voted the other way, its a LONG 4 yrs to swallow that pill. That $91 million Metra plan to upgrade and rebuild locomotives I read just the day before is “on hold” I would guess also huh?
Mr. Jeans-Gail is is poster child for NARP’s usual unhelpful comments in situations such as this. There is absolutely no “danger of federal devolution”…to the states". States with good potential for intra-state sevice account having strong end and intermediate points like IL, CA, FL, NY, VA, NC and others can and have lead the way. And in good times NARP has unstinting in celebrated that.
“Devolution” isn’t the problem. States that have gotten themselves into the kind of economic hole IL finds itself are. Unless someone can get honest answers out of Gov. Rauner as to what his transportation biases are, we may never know what his transportation priorities would have been if IL been in better shape.
Clearly, and dispite increasing ridership, Gov. Rauner does not see that gutting Amtrak will generate a level of pushback he cares about. He has decided the vast majority of IL travelers are still and always will be out on the IL Tollway system and interstates. And maybe, sadly, he’s correct. Amtrak service is still sparse compared to the overall population spread in the state and transit service is only concentrated in the Chicago metro region. He’s not one bit worred about alienating all the Amtrak, Metra, and CTA riders to the point all will vote for the other guy in four years. He sees their numbers as being too small to threaten his political ambitions. And he can do a lot of damage in four years.
As evidence that highway-centrism transcends party lines look at CT Gov. Dannell Malloy’s recently released list of transportation priorities for 2015-2016. Yes there is lots of rail stuff. But they are vastly overshadowed by a list of highway/highway bridge/highway interchange projects that is shockingly long. He won’t get both if he indeed gets much of anything. But if it gets down to making stark choices, Mr.Malloy, aided by the road warriors at ConnDOT, will vote to widen I-95 across the state and a remake of the I-84 vi
It would seem that if Ill. can’t pay its bills it should cut spending as they have announced. So why is it that so many automatically blame the Republicans?? IF, the tax and spend side would maybe change to tax and REPAY for a few years both sides could cut and spend after the bills are paid off. It is not possible to tax enough while sending to ever get out of the hole. Cut the handouts, pay the bills then give the people their money back. This Gov. is doing just what Michigans Gov. had to do and now, even with the current deficit, after eliminating and huge deficit left behind by Gov. Barbie, oops, I mean Granholm. I do not care what party them belong to, If they tax and spend they need to be replaced with someone that will do what’s necessary to BALANCE the budget! When they haved done that, then look to support transit programs. I’m a hardcore rail fan BUT, if you continue to run up debt you get problems like STOCKTON, CA and DETROIT, MI. You can’t keep filing for bankruptcy and screwing all the suppliers forever at some point they say up yours - find someone else to screw!
Those against rail passenger expense falsely believe that highways pay for themselves. Highway fees and gas taxes do not generate enough money to maintain the infrastructure already in place. Add to that the thousands of deaths and injuries, loss of productive real estate, tremendous waste of resources (how long does your car last compared to a rail car?), and the fact that many cannot or should not use a car (texters, drunks, cell phone users, speeders, and other fools). For highway deaths, you and I are pay for it in high insurance rates, if not our own death or dismemberment. If and when I can retire, I will find a place that invests in good public transit. We are all touched by individuals and families who are affected by auto deaths. If the auto and paving lobby were responsible for the death and destruction they cause, we would all be riding public transit. Remember, those who take public transit are subsidized less than those who drive and think they are paying their way. The more gas you consume, the more you are subsidized by the government given all the externalized costs of the fossil fuel industry including well blowouts, pipeline spills, exploding tank cars, and high CO2 levels.
Fortunately for Illinois and Amtrak, unlike Wisconsin, the Illinois Legislature is under firm control of Democrats and they will decide the budget and stop the one term governor, billionaire bagger bruce, in his tracks.