Kerry and Spector Introduces Landmark High Speed Rail

Photo from indecision2008.com

Thanks to beachmom at the Kos for this story, check this story out from the LA Times about John Kerry and Arlen Specter doing what bipartisan does when it actually, you know, works:

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Senator Kerry and Senator Specter introduced the High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 on November 20, 2008:

The High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 builds upon the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 which reauthorizes Amtrak and authorizes $1.5 billion over a five-year period to finance the construction and equipment for eleven high-speed rail corridors. It provides billions of dollars in both tax-exempt and tax credit bond and provides assistance for rail projects of various speeds. The bill creates the Office of High-Speed passenger rail to oversee the development of high-speed rail and provides a consistent source of funding.

Specifically, the High-Speed Rail for America Act of 2008 provides $8 billion over a six-year period for tax-exempt bonds which finance high-speed rail projects which reach a speed of at least 110 miles per hour It creates a new category of tax-credit bonds – qualified rail bonds. There are two types of qualified rail bonds: super high-speed intercity rail facility bond and rail infrastructure bond. Super high-speed rail intercity facility bonds will encourage the development of true high-speed rail. The legislation provides $10 billion for these bonds over a ten-year period. This would help finance the California proposed corridor and make needed improvements to the Northeast corridor. The legislation provides $5.4 billion over a six-year period for rail infrastructure bonds. The Federal Rail Administration has already designated ten rail corridors that these bonds could help fund, including connecting the cities of the Midwest through Chicago, connecting the cities of the Northwest, connecting the major cities within Texas and Florida, and connecting all the cities up and down the East Coast.

But...

Now this bill introduced now will again be introduced in the new Congress. If we can get conservative Republicans to sign onto the concept, then this thing can happen. Not only that, I would propose that this is exactly the kind of infrastructure spending we need to stimulate the economy, and it would be an investment we would enjoy for years and years to come.

We'll see what happens, but a high speed rail was long ago needed, and it is encouraging to see it potentially being implemented, or talked about seriously.