MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - Jack and Pat Wendleton have a personal stake in a building budget fight in Missouri's legislature over the governor's proposal to use an emergency reserve fund to help balance next year's budget.
For Pat Wendleton, it could mean a loss of travel independence.
At issue is the state's annual appropriation to help fund the Amtrak train service between St. Louis and Kansas City.
The governor has proposed eliminating the Amtrak section from the regular budget and moving it to the state's emergency reserve fund. Called the "Rainy Day Fund," it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to use any of that money.
Jack and Pat Wendleton moved to Hermann three years ago. One of the main reasons was Amtrak. They use it for both long and short distance rides.
Pat had a brain tumor removed two years ago. She doesn't drive any more and regularly takes the train. "If Amtrak shuts down, my wife won't be able to travel independently", Jack Wendleton said.
"In the 50's we had a great passenger rail service in this nation that was envy of many countries. Today we are probably the only developed country that has a very substandard rail passenger service", he says.
"This is a very essential service to our community", said Wendleton, a civil engineer. "And nationwide, we need an alternative form of passenger transportation service".
The Missouri service, between St. Louis and Kansas City, began in 1979. A few years later, Amtrak required the state to help cover the costs to keep the trains running.
Four trains now run daily between the two cities and stop in other 8 cities along the route.
The decisions about Amtrak service in Missouri are made in Chicago, at the Amtrak business unit for the Midwest.
Without state support, Ray Lang, director of government affairs for Amtrak at the company's headquarters in Chicago, said that the train service would be eliminated.
According to Lang, every year the state of Missouri accords with Amtrak the cost of the contract in order to keep the service working.
"Historically, the legislator has always provided those funds through the Department of Transportation for that service", Lang said.
"If the Department of Transportation is unable to renew the contract, the service will be discontinued", he said.
The governor proposes that $4.8 million be appropriated for Amtrak from the "Rainy Day fund" -- 22 percent less than this year.
The chairman of the House appropriations committee that handles the transportation budget -- Rep. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis County -- is sympathetic.
She travels to Jefferson City by train and voices concerns that many individuals will be affected if Amtrak shuts down: elderly, students, workers in Jeff City.
"Because we don't have efficient service and reliable service, people can't count on it. You have to invest to get people to ride".
Ridership in Missouri has increased slightly the last few years. In 2001, Amtrak readership was about 208,000 -- 1.5 percent greater than the previous year.
"I don't have any problem using the Rainy Day Fund because I think we are in emergency", Bray said. But she also expressed a concern about the governor's plan. "The problem with the Rainy Day fund is that it is just for one year and we will have the same problem next year".
Another concern about the Rainy Day fund approach was voiced by Rep. John Griesheimer.
The Washington Republican is an avid supporter of Amtrak. But he expressed concerns about getting the necessary two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to use the Rainy Day fund.
"It is very hard to get two thirds in every issue, much less a real controversial one like this. We asked for people to call the governor's office and ask them to continue Amtrak".
Griesheimer defines himself as a "train nut" and remembers how he worked to get an Amtrak stop in his district.
"We had to prove that Washington would be a successful stop. And it has been, last year 20,000 people got on and off in Washington alone, 10 percent of the total ridership," he said.
"The U.S. Congress found out how vital Amtrak was with New York. You have to have alternative forms of transportation, cannot put all your eggs in one basket", he says.
Amtrak crisis doesn't affect just Missouri. The company threatened to eliminate train service in many states if Congress doesn't double its support for next budget year.