To the editor:
U.S. Rep. Al Swift, D-Wash., has introduced a bill to tax motorists to help modernize Amtrak, America's only taxpayer-financed passenger railroad. If put to a national referendum, the idea of using gas taxes for passenger railroads would be quickly defeated.Precisely the reason the U.S. government created Amtrak in the first place is that the privately owned railroads could not break even, much less make a profit, on passenger service. Many believed passenger rail service to be essential to the national interest, although the limited corridors served by Amtrak stretch the argument of a "national" program.
But if "national interest" is a valid argument for Amtrak, then motorists should not be asked to fund a social program - that's what the general funds of the U.S. Treasury are for.
The Swift proposal is to use a penny a gallon from the federal tax on motor fuel for Amtrak. That penny a gallon adds up to more than $1 billion a year. Because Amtrak serves only 22 million riders a year, the proposal is asking motorists to subsidize each passenger an average of $45 per ticket.
If Amtrak needs a $1 billion a year budget increase, it should take its case to Congress on its merits, not attempt to steal from the pockets of motorists, those least likely to use its service.
Thomas E. Bingham
Vice president-public policy
Utah Farm Bureau Federation
Member, board of directors
Utah Highway Users Conference