neroden
Engineer
Congress already was refusing to go along with cuts to Amtrak or to public transit. But with Democrats controlling the House, I think we have an even better chance of making progress on improving things. In the transportation committee as a whole, and the highways & transit committee, the Democratic delegation has generally been more helpful. And specifically, the likely new committee and subcommittee chairs are almost certain to be more helpful.
Transportation Committee: most likely new chair is Peter DeFazio, Oregon (longtime very serious supporter of passenger rail)
Highways and Transit subcommittee: most likely new chair is Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC (big public transit supporter); if they want someone who actually has voting rights on the floor (sigh), it might be Jerrold Nadler, NY, who's also a great advocate.
Railroads,Pipelines subcommittee: Unclear, since Capuano was knocked off by Ayanna Pressley, who probably won't be on the committee and certainly won't have seniority. I don't see an obvious candidate for the new subcommittee leadership.
It's also possible that the subcommittees will be reorganized. This sometimes happens.
Anyway, beyond the budget, these committee leaders are the people most likely to grill Amtrak over making dumb choices, and I think we're likely to have people who will listen to the issues better than we did before.
Transportation Committee: most likely new chair is Peter DeFazio, Oregon (longtime very serious supporter of passenger rail)
Highways and Transit subcommittee: most likely new chair is Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC (big public transit supporter); if they want someone who actually has voting rights on the floor (sigh), it might be Jerrold Nadler, NY, who's also a great advocate.
Railroads,Pipelines subcommittee: Unclear, since Capuano was knocked off by Ayanna Pressley, who probably won't be on the committee and certainly won't have seniority. I don't see an obvious candidate for the new subcommittee leadership.
It's also possible that the subcommittees will be reorganized. This sometimes happens.
Anyway, beyond the budget, these committee leaders are the people most likely to grill Amtrak over making dumb choices, and I think we're likely to have people who will listen to the issues better than we did before.
Last edited by a moderator: