Hotline #768

Seven Republicans voted against the Danforth amendment on March 31, and thus voted for Amtrak. We apologize for omitting Senator Specter (R.-Pa.) from last week's list of pro-Amtrak votes. Also, some callers on March 26 heard a week-old message after an introduction indicating they would get a new text. If you would like a refund for this, send us a note that includes the number from which you placed the call.

President Clinton released his budget yesterday. As expected, in 1994, he would continue to fund Amtrak and Northeast Corridor at pre-stimulus 1993 levels, except for a $9 million reduction in "mandatory payments." The budget also has an $802 million (21%) increase in transit funding -- from $3.8 billion to $4.6 billion -- and has $140 million for high-speed ground transportation, the first installment in the five-year, $1.3-billion program. Highway spending would rise 3.5% to $9.1 billion (from $8.9 billion). [The fiscal 1993 figures given here include only spending that has been enacted, not the proposed stimulus money.] Clinton wants to redirect into the Highway Trust Fund the 2.5 cents now going to deficit reduction, with one-half penny of that going to the transit account. However, freight railroads' 2.5-cent payments would continue to go to deficit reduction.

The Administration seems to be moving towards spending most of the high-speed funds on practical improvements to existing services, as reflected in Secretary Pena's comment at his budget news conference yesterday. He said that he wants to "insure we have a product. I am not about spending billions of dollars without getting a product. I want to see a system operating hopefully in a very short period of time." Pena also said the Administration contemplates new authorizing legislation that might reduce the portion of ISTEA money going to maglev and increase the portion going to high-speed rail. Pena hopes to have more specifics by April 29 when the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold its high-speed hearing. Invited witnesses include Pena, Amtrak, AAR, General Accounting Office, and five states (Washington, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Massachusetts).

NARP's media advisory released today praised the budget's good points, while expressing disappointment that President Clinton has:

• Apparently rejected the concept of earmarking for an intercity passenger rail trust fund one penny of the 2.5 cents in gas taxes now going to deficit reduction;
• Not proposed the authorized $9.5 million for new state-supported services; and
• Proposed to have the freight railroads continue paying 2.5 cents for deficit reduction, while excusing the truckers (who roped the railroads into the 2.5 cents in the first place) from continuing to contribute to deficit reduction.

NARP's advisory continued, "Amtrak's resources are stretched so badly that service reliability, customer confidence, and employee morale are all suffering badly ... We look forward to working with the administration to find the solutions to Amtrak's problems that the [fiscal 1994] budget seems to lack. 'Full-funding Amtrak' is as important as 'full-funding ISTEA' (which the new budget would do only for highways)."

The Clinton budget falls $50 million short of the authorized operations figure, $85 million short on authorized nationwide capital, and $45.9 million short on authorized NECIP funding, and of course includes none of the authorized $9.5 million for new 403(b) services.

Southern Pacific and Amtrak are running special trains for victims of the Gila River flood in Arizona. There are seven round trips daily between the McElheney Cattle Company and Roll. The service replaces an SP work train that began March 1 for crews of the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation District. The Amtrak coach service -- plus two box cars and an auxiliary car for the Irrigation District -- is to last as long as needed, probably 30-60 days.

The Chicago-Miami through-coach will be discontinued May 2 partly because of train unreliability and partly because of the new experimental smoking policy on the Capitol Limited.