Cleveland Real Estate News

I’m going to paste an email I received today from one of my train buddies, Ed, who is so wonderful about keeping me and therefore all of us informed about what is going on so we can take action when necessary. SB294 has suddenly become urgent and is under debate on the Senate floor. Read as follows:

Dear Supporter of Passenger Rail,

This important peice of legislation has come up to the Senate on such short
notice that I have copied the information verbatum from Ross Capon,
Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. 
Please read the update on Senate Bill 294 below and email or call your
Senator today.

Contact information for your Senator can be found here:
http://www.allaboardohio.org/cms/index.php/content/action/

Andrew Bremer
All Aboard Ohio

***

The Amtrak reauthorization bill came up on the Senate floor late yesterday.
It will be on the floor today (Thursday) and possibly tomorrow and beyond.
Debate today begins at 10:30 AM and a vote is planned for 12:30 PM on a
Sununu amendment which could be the first of many nasty ones (including,
apparently, one by Coburn, R-OK).  

Sununu, as I understand it, would kill all trains that lose over $200 a
passenger after a certain number of years. So this kills the long-distance
network and doesnâ?Tt even use a rational basis (like revenue-to-cost ratio
or loss per passenger-mile) to do it. Of course, the network is so skeletal
that removing just about any individual route would have significant harmful
network impacts. In other words, the domino theory applies here, whether or
not you believe it in foreign policy!!

Phone calls this morning to Senate offices should urge votes against this
and any other anti-train amendments. Most senators probably know an
anti-train amendment when they see one. However,  they can assume that an
amendment is anti-train if Senators Lautenberg and Lott do not both accept
said amendment as friendly.  

Remember, when you phone and ask for the staff person, you may be offered
voice-mail. Accept that offer and be sure to leave a substantive message. Do
not rely on the staffer’s ability to return your call in a timely manner.  

Your message could go like this:

 Please support S. 294 and please vote
against the Sununu per passenger subsidy cap amendmentâ?”a wolf in sheep’s
clothingâ and any other anti-train amendment that is offered.

 You can reach any Senate office by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard
202-224-3121. If you are on-line, your Senator’s direct-dial number and
web site are at
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm  
Thanks for your efforts! 

PS: If you are interested in joining an advocacy group for The Ohio Hub, please contact me (Carole) and I can direct you. We need your voice, your efforts. Our economy depends on it.

Go to Smart Growth America to see a recent survey that may blow your mind or reinforce your belief that most Americans want a huge focus on public transportation to occur in this Country. I’ll have more about that in a later post.

1:00 AM update (you are right I don’t sleep much!)

Follow this urbanohio.com link and read about the Sunnunu proposal as well as good discussion on long routes, corridors, etc. Plus there are links to other posts on the subject. Peace Out – 3C

October 31st Update:

Great News! SB294 passed in the Senate! Now we need a corresponding House vote. If any of you are buddies/supporters with Steve LaTourette, please put a bug in his ear about helping to sponsor a House Bill.  Here is an email I received today from Andrew Bremer, Exec. Director of All Aboard Ohio:

Dear Supporters of Passenger Rail,

Yesterday, the United States Senate passed S.B. 294, the Rail Passenger
Investment and Improvement Act, by a margin of 70-22.  The Act will give
stable financial support for Amtrak over the next 6 years as well as provide
a fledgling federal support program for states wishing to invest in rail
infrastructure.

For Ohio, Senator Brown voted ‘yea’ while Senator Voinovich voted ‘nay’.  To
see the full list of how other senators voted, click here: 

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_110_1.htm

All Aboard Ohio expects to work very closely with NARP to move the momentum
to the House where a similar bill must be formulated.