Support $4 Billion for HSR
Last year, a national coalition of high speed rail and transportation advocacy groups launched a campaign to win $4 billion in the FY 2010 federal budget. President Obama had proposed $1 billion in the budget, but the coalition got the House of Representatives to approve $4 billion. In conference committee negotiations with the Senate, the amount was whittled down to $2.5 billion, still a considerable sum of money and further sign of Congressional support for HSR funding.
This matters because without federal funding, there will be no California high speed rail.
Today the coalition has begun its campaign for another $4 billion in the FY 2011 budget. This time, California is participating. Californians For High Speed Rail today asked our members to support the campaign by going to the FourBillion.com website and using their easy tool to contact Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, as well as their Representative, to support the $4 billion request.
As we reported yesterday, there’s also a Congressional push for stable long-term funding. We at CA4HSR see these campaigns as related, with one building on the other. By mobilizing support for $4 billion in the FY 2011 budget, we begin to engage the public to support the concept of federal funding. As we get people engaged in this fight, it becomes much easier to shift that activist energy to the fight later this year for the $50 billion in the transportation bill reauthorization.
It’s also important to push for $4 billion in case the transportation bill reauthorization is pushed back beyond the end of 2010 – another $4 billion in federal appropriations would help bridge that gap.
California would be well-positioned to win some of that $4 billion. On page 28 of the revisions to the 2009 Business Plan the CHSRA writes that they expect between $14.75 billion and $16.75 billion between now and 2020, averaging out to $1.475-$1.675 billion per year. A $4 billion appropriation would make California very competitive to win that money, and would help enable our project to stay on track.
The more people from across the nation who contact their representatives in support of $4 billion for HSR, the more likely it is that we’ll get that money. Public support is vital; Congress isn’t going to do this on their own. Show our members of Congress that you want $4 billion in HSR funds in the 2011 budget by going to FourBillion.com now and adding your name to the list of supporters.
@ Robert
You should probably add to the website the text of the message being sent. I didn’t see it anywhere.
i think I saw the message text there.
YesonHSR Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 7:46 am
there is something wrong with the text..
Bobierto Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 10:38 am
No problem with the text, but the message to Obama doesn’t go through because there is a captcha challenge doohickey. You have to enter the text, but you can’t see the box displaying the text that you should be entering.
Peter Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Hmm, maybe I just missed it. The captcha worked fine for me.
How was the $4B amount decided upon – because it is known that the House of Reps backs that number? Why not more? How will it not compete with the Congressional ask for designated funds?
Robert Cruickshank Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:44 am
It was the amount decided upon in the House last year, and was seen by the advocates as a realistic proposal with a chance of passage in the Senate. Because the campaign was seen as being a success last year ($2.5b was more than the $1b Obama had proposed) we collectively decided to revive it at this time.
As you can see in the House letter to Obama I posted on Sunday, this doesn’t compete with the ask for designated funds because that ask is long-term and in the transportation bill reauthorization. This $4b ask is a stopgap. Further, ANY public mobilization in support of HSR funds is welcome in Congress, especially from HSR supporters in the House who need their colleagues to hear that the public wants this money.
Once again, the wisdom of the crowds is in evidence:
Fed-up fliers turn to U.S. train travel
Alon Levy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 2:30 am
Not sure you’d want to invoke wisdom of crowds. After all, this is a country where for years the wisdom of crowds was that Iraq should be bombed as punishment for 9/11.
BruceMcF Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 5:28 am
Mind, when there is a well-orchestrated, widely disseminated misinformation campaign to convince people of something, that’s the effectiveness of the misinformation campaign rather than the wisdom of the crowds.
I know there was a well-orchestrated, widely disseminated misinformation campaign to convince people that Iraq had something to do with 9/11, but had not been aware that was in place for taking trains instead of planes. And a hearty “well done” to the secret cabal who are pulling it off.
Robert Cruickshank Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:44 am
“Wisdom of crowds” may not be the best way to put it, but there is a fundamental difference between a nation in the middle of war fever and pent-up demand for a mode of travel.
Bobierto Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 10:14 am
There is also a fundamental difference between deciding for yourself what to do (e.g., how to get to grandma’s house), and being misled by your leaders, then having those leaders use your support as justification to start dropping the bombs. Completely false analogy.
Im hoping for at least the 2.5 again!! Your right this will help if the transportation bill is futher delayd(lets hope not) thou I think that bill will be taken up late this or early next year. Now when is the money for this years 2.5 going to let out?
Robert Cruickshank Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:45 am
The FRA is in charge of doling out the $2.5 billion in the FY 2010 budget. No word yet on how exactly that’s going to be handled.
COW POWER!
I’ll gladly support $4 billion a year for HSR, as long as enough of it goes to making the Acela into a real high-speed train.