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House Passes One Week Budget Extension
December 9, 2020
House Passes One Week Budget Extension; New Deadline is Dec. 18 to Secure Emergency Funding for Amtrak and Transit
This afternoon the U.S. House of Representatives passed a one-week extension of current funding law to keep the government open through December 18. The U.S. Senate is expected to pass an identical extension ahead of this Friday’s deadline when the current funding is set to expire.
That gives passengers another week to ensure that Amtrak and transit are included in the final passage!
Our sources on Capitol Hill are telling us that the current bipartisan compromise includes $1 billion for Amtrak and $15 billion for mass transit systems, which would help avoid further cuts and layoffs for rail operators struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and anemic ridership.
With disagreement over key passages, the bill is still very much in flux—and there’s no guarantee that the Senate will pass a coronavirus relief package at all unless they hear from their constituents. We need your help to stiffen the spines of your members of Congress between now and next week!
"The National Association of Railroad Passengers has done yeoman work over the years and in fact if it weren’t for NARP, I'd be surprised if Amtrak were still in possession of as a large a network as they have. So they've done good work, they're very good on the factual case."
Robert Gallamore, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University and former Federal Railroad Administration official, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University
November 17, 2005, on The Leonard Lopate Show (with guest host Chris Bannon), WNYC New York.
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