SR0209 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0209 LRB094 12311 HSS 46199 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Amtrak is a vital part of the Illinois economy and the Bush Administration's recent proposal to eliminate federal operating dollars for Amtrak is a threat to the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The Administration's expectation that the State of Illinois can find additional dollars to replace disappearing federal dollars is short-sighted and unrealistic, as the burden on the State of Illinois would be severe and well beyond the means of State government to meet; and

WHEREAS, Every developed nation in the world invests in a national passenger rail system and the perpetual lack of funding from the United States Congress has left our passenger rail system far behind what our citizens deserve; and

WHEREAS, The purpose of a federal government is to fund and implement those interstate programs that state governments are not equipped to administer well, and interstate passenger rail is a proper program for the federal government to administer; and

WHEREAS, Amtrak is a major Illinois employer with more than 2000 employees earning in the aggregate more than $83 million in FY 2004; and

WHEREAS, Over 2.3 million riders traveled through Chicago's Union Station on Amtrak in FY 2004, with more than 1.9 million riders from outside of Illinois arriving in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, These 1.9 million out-of-state Amtrak riders arriving into Union Station every year inject much-needed tourism dollars into our State's economy; and

WHEREAS, The opening of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in April of 2005, four blocks from the Amtrak station, will be another prime opportunity to bring tourism dollars into Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The total Illinois Amtrak ridership in FY 2004 was over 3,000,000, breaking all previous records and rising rapidly; and

WHEREAS, Amtrak currently serves Illinois with 50 daily trains, with daily long distance service from Chicago to Oakland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Memphis, New Orleans, St. Paul, Seattle, Portland, Buffalo, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Dallas, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York City; and

WHEREAS, Amtrak currently serves almost 30 communities in Illinois (Alton, Bloomington-Normal, Carbondale, Carlinville, Centralia, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, Du Quoin, Dwight, Effingham, Galesburg, Gilman, Glenview, Homewood, Joliet, Kankakee, Kewanee, Lincoln, Macomb, Mattoon, Mendota, Naperville, Plano, Pontiac, Princeton, Quincy, Rantoul, Springfield, and Summit), all of which would be at major risk of losing passenger rail service should the President's proposal be implemented by the Congress; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has provided financial support for a number of years to maintain Amtrak service to its citizens and has continued its strong support for in-state passenger rail service by budgeting $12.4 million in the current State Fiscal Year 2005 to continue existing levels of service; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois currently receives far fewer spending dollars from the federal government than our taxpayers send to Washington, making Illinois a donor state; and

WHEREAS, Amtrak is one of the relatively few federal programs that disproportionately benefits Illinois, making Amtrak a great investment for the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call on the United States Congress to invest, not divest, in a national passenger rail system with Chicago's Union Station as a major hub; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on the Illinois congressional delegation to lead the effort in a bipartisan manner to protect Illinois' unequivocal interest in strong, fully-funded passenger rail service; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon the Department of Transportation to report to the General Assembly by November 1, 2005, on the implications to State support for continued passenger rail service within Illinois should federal operating support for Amtrak ultimately be eliminated or significantly reduced in the federal budget; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this preamble and resolution be sent to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation and to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation.