HB 26-09: Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act (Tabled)

[Tamika Jackson]

Mr. Speaker,

I'd like to insert this into the record: https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2019/11/19/amtrak-reports-record-ridership-on-chicago-st.html

I yield.

[Joseph Cao]

Amendment vote has ended.

By a vote of 5-3-0-1, this amendment passes.

Debate resumes. Any pending amendments may now be introduced.

[Rep Jessica]

my amendment

Section III. Construction of High Speed Rail Arteries
i. A high speed railway shall be constructed from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA. The railway must include access stations in Los Angeles, CA, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.
     a. The Department of Transportation should negotiate possible connections through Canada and Mexico.
ii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Miami, FL to Boston, MA. The railway must include access stations in Charlotte, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY.
iv. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Virginia beach VA to Phoenix, Az. The railway must include access to stations in Richmond, Va, Nashville Tenn, Houston Tx, and El paso.

[Tamika Jackson]

Mr. Speaker,

I rise to offer an amendment to the gentlelady of Mississippi's amendment as follows:

A high speed railway shall be constructed from Virginia beach VA to Phoenix, Az. The railway must include access to stations in Richmond, Va, Staunton, VA, Roanoke, VA, Knoxville, TN, Nashville Tenn, Jackson, TN, Memphis, TN, Little Rock, AR, Texarkana, AR, Shreveport, LA, Nacogdoches, TX, Houston Tx, Austin, TX, and El paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, and Tucson, AZ.

I yield.

[Left Wing]

Amendment is hostile

[SevenEleven]

Amendment is hostile

Very hostile. Madison County has less than 100k population. There is no need for HSR in Jackson, TN. We need to build an efficient transportation grid, not a pork barrel boondoggle.

[Tamika Jackson]

Amendment is hostile

Very hostile. Madison County has less than 100k population. There is no need for HSR in Jackson, TN. We need to build an efficient transportation grid, not a pork barrel boondoggle.

Mr. Speaker,

I think the people of Jackson, TN take offense by the gentleman of California's arbitrary determination about which towns deserve high speed rail and which don't.

Rural areas need transportation too. A station in Jackson, TN would also serve the surrounding rural areas, helping to cut down on traffic and provide a cheaper way to travel to larger cities and across the country.

In 2011, the Jackson-Humboldt Combined Statistical Area showed a population of over 165,000 citizens.

While that may not be the millions that the gentleman of California expects, rural areas don't have sprawling international airports nor do they receive air service by airlines to a variety of destinations like larger cities.

High speed rail would bring more travel options to rural areas. The rail is going to end up going near Jackson, TN anyways. Why not build a station there?

I yield.

[OBD]

Amendment is hostile

Very hostile. Madison County has less than 100k population. There is no need for HSR in Jackson, TN. We need to build an efficient transportation grid, not a pork barrel boondoggle.

Mr. Speaker,

I think the people of Jackson, TN take offense by the gentleman of California's arbitrary determination about which towns deserve high speed rail and which don't.

Rural areas need transportation too. A station in Jackson, TN would also serve the surrounding rural areas, helping to cut down on traffic and provide a cheaper way to travel to larger cities and across the country.

In 2011, the Jackson-Humboldt Combined Statistical Area showed a population of over 165,000 citizens.

While that may not be the millions that the gentleman of California expects, rural areas don't have sprawling international airports nor do they receive air service by airlines to a variety of destinations like larger cities.

High speed rail would bring more travel options to rural areas. The rail is going to end up going near Jackson, TN anyways. Why not build a station there?

I yield.

Butting in as a citizen, if no one minds .-.

I, personally, have no quarrel with adding rural stops to planned lines (in fact, I tried to do the same thing in my first-ever Fremont bill on transportation, and I would appreciate an amendment adding additional stops on the Western line, particularly Eugene and perhaps Medford). However, the issue here is that the cost of HSR for the line proposed by Rep. Jessica is too high for the resulting gain in consumer utility. HSR, cost-wise, is only competitive with airlines over short-distances, so air travel likely makes the Jessica line redundant and a bad investment, especially with the COVID-19 deficit to account for. The western portion of the line is particularly egregious - building a line across 500 miles (greater than the distance from Boston to Washington, D.C!) of barren Texan desert when the same distance can be easily bridged by cheaper air travel is an exceptionally irresponsible use of funds.

[SevenEleven]

Amendment is hostile

Very hostile. Madison County has less than 100k population. There is no need for HSR in Jackson, TN. We need to build an efficient transportation grid, not a pork barrel boondoggle.

Mr. Speaker,

I think the people of Jackson, TN take offense by the gentleman of California's arbitrary determination about which towns deserve high speed rail and which don't.

Rural areas need transportation too. A station in Jackson, TN would also serve the surrounding rural areas, helping to cut down on traffic and provide a cheaper way to travel to larger cities and across the country.

In 2011, the Jackson-Humboldt Combined Statistical Area showed a population of over 165,000 citizens.

While that may not be the millions that the gentleman of California expects, rural areas don't have sprawling international airports nor do they receive air service by airlines to a variety of destinations like larger cities.

High speed rail would bring more travel options to rural areas. The rail is going to end up going near Jackson, TN anyways. Why not build a station there?

I yield.

Lesser expensive rail lines can fill that same purpose at a lower cost without disrupting the high-speed line's most efficient path.

[Joseph Cao]

I appreciate Representative Jackson's concern for rural development, and I have no particular objection to letting Jackson, TN have a HSR stop if they wish. However, and this is my main point of contention with your proposal, the point of this bill is to build a HSR line which simply cannot afford to stop at all of your proposed stations (many of which are less than a hundred miles apart) without defeating the entire purpose of high-speed rail – to get trains across the country quickly and efficiently, which necessitates enough distance between stations to achieve such speeds. Non-HSR rail lines exist and can be extended if necessary to achieve your goal of bringing feasible means of transport to rural areas. Those do not come within the purview of this bill, though.

As far as Jessica's amendment goes, I am not inherently opposed to the idea of a Southern HSR line. In fact, my impression (correct me if I'm wrong) is that the most cost-efficient route through the Interior West would probably go through Texas and Arizona anyway. But being the most cost-efficient of a series of inefficient options does not necessarily make the entirety of your amendment the most efficient option among the range of HSR line options. Oregon Blue Dog's concerns are justified here.

[SevenEleven]

Choosing to live in a more rural or exurban area is a decision to value space over convenience. Instead of being able to walk one or two blocks to the store, you'll have to drive for ten minutes or more. Instead of living in a 1200 sq ft house you might sit on an acre or two. Likewise, people who choose to live in these areas will have to rely on drive and park or connecting rail lines. It's simply too costly to build a station everywhere people happen to live, no matter how few, and greatly reduced the efficient of the infrastructure in the process. These trains need to be faster and to do so, fewer stops must exist. Building HSR lines to barely populated areas is too costly and inefficient to be worth considering.

It's best to let the commission decide the most efficient routes through the middle of the country, following adequate planning and preparations.

[Joseph Cao]

I will note for Representative Jackson's benefit that amendments to amendments are not covered by House rules, and in my capacity as Speaker I shall be striking it from the queue. If the Representative wishes to reintroduce it as a proper amendment after we get through Jessica's amendment, they are welcome to do so.

In the meantime, in consideration of the hostile feedback from the bill's sponsor, a vote is now open on the following amendment:

AN ACT
To improve transport and connectivity across our nation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Atlasia in Congress assembled,

Section I. Title

i. The long title of this bill shall be the "Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act." It may be cited as the "High Speed Rail Act."

Section II. Definitions
i. High speed rail is defined as a railroad capable of supporting trains in excess of 120 mph.

Section III. Construction of High Speed Rail Arteries
i. A high speed railway shall be constructed from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA. The railway must include access stations in Los Angeles, CA, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.
     a. The Department of Transportation should negotiate possible connections through Canada and Mexico.
ii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Miami, FL to Boston, MA. The railway must include access stations in Charlotte, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY.
iii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MO. The railway must include access stations in Bloomington, IL and Springfield, IL.
iv. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Virginia Beach, VA to Phoenix, AZ. The railway must include access to stations in Richmond, VA, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and El Paso, TX.

Section IV. Creation of National Rail Authority
i. The National Rail Authority is hereby established under the Department of Transportation and tasked with the responsibility of overseeing construction, rail route development, and consumer-end transit program implementation.
ii. The National Rail Authority shall consist of members appointed by the President of Atlasia.
iii. Modifications to the seaboard routes and placement of cross-country rail routes shall be the responsibility of the National Rail Authority.
iv. Congress shall retain the ability to legislate new routes or override the decisions of the National Rail Authority if necessary.

Section V. Appropriations
i. $80 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of the seaboard routes.
ii. $250 million shall be appropriated for surveying and planning of cross-country rail routes.
iii. $3 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities.
iv. $150 billion shall be released for construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of cross country routes pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.
v. $8 billion shall be released for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.

72 hours to vote. Representatives, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Left Wing]

Nay

[SevenEleven]

Nay.

[Rep Jessica]

Aye

[Senator Spark]

Aye

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Aye

[Joseph Cao]

NAY!

[Adam Griffin]

Aye

[Tamika Jackson]

Aye

[Joseph Cao]

Amendment vote has ended.

By a vote of 5-3-0-1, this amendment passes.

Debate resumes.

[Tamika Jackson]

Mr. Speaker,

I rise to offer the previous amendment as follows:

A high speed railway shall be constructed from Virginia beach VA to Phoenix, Az. The railway must include access to stations in Richmond, Va, Staunton, VA, Roanoke, VA, Knoxville, TN, Nashville Tenn, Jackson, TN, Memphis, TN, Little Rock, AR, Texarkana, AR, Shreveport, LA, Nacogdoches, TX, Houston Tx, Austin, TX, and El paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, and Tucson, AZ.

I yield.

[Joseph Cao]

I am aware that the bill's sponsor has been… rather vocally hostile to this amendment, but for the sake of clarity I'll ask Sev to lay out again why this amendment is a bad idea.

[SevenEleven]

The amendment is hostile.

[OBD]

At the risk of stating the obvious, if y'all are going to build a line across 500 miles of Texan desert, shouldn't you at least extend it 3/5 that distance to Los Angeles? If you're gonna go pork-barrel spending, might as well go all the way.