Amtrak Reforms Approved

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday approved legislation to reform Amtrak's business practices, including controversial provisions that do away with Amtrak workers' six-year severance pay guarantee and implement a $250,000 per-passenger liability cap for non-economic damages.

However, the bill faces likely trouble in the Senate, and Clinton administration officials have threatened a presidential veto.

Panel Republicans defeated, by a 37-31 vote, a Democratic substitute that contained most of the Republican provisions allowing Amtrak to change its business practices and restructure routes to become more profitable.

But the Democratic substitute deleted the labor and liability provisions.

Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member James Oberstar, D-Minn., argued the labor and liability reforms would have no bearing on Amtrak's profitability or ability to restructure.

"It is not the determining factor for whether Amtrak survives or fails," Oberstar said.

After Republicans voted down the substitute, the committee passed the bill by a 36-30 vote.

Amtrak reform legislation is needed to trigger a $2.3 billion tax refund contained in the pending tax reconciliation bill to bail out the nearly bankrupt passenger railroad.

The tax bill does not specify what those reforms must be, but only that an Amtrak measure must pass, with or without the labor and liability sections.

Oberstar said he had been assured by White House officials that President Clinton would veto the bill unless the labor and liability sections are removed.

The Senate Commerce Committee passed a similar bill earlier this month, but aides expect the labor and liability sections to have trouble making it past the floor.

The House committee briefly considered an amendment by Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., that would keep the six-year severance benefit for freight railroad workers, meaning the bill would repeal it only for Amtrak workers.

But Rep. Robert Borski, D-Pa., argued Quinn's amendment did not specify that public transit workers would retain the six-year severance benefit.

Quinn said his intent was to keep the benefit for transit workers, but staff counsels for both sides disagreed on the language.

Quinn withdrew his amendment and plans to work with Democrats on a manager's amendment prior to floor action to make clear the severance benefit is revoked for Amtrak workers only.

Earlier Wednesday, while speaking to the Chamber of Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Shuster said "railroad interests" who had visited him recently expressed interest in taking over passenger rail service in the Northeast Boston- Washington corridor if Amtrak closes.

Meanwhile, the Senate Wednesday passed the FY98 Transportation appropriations bill by a 98-1 margin. The only amendment, accepted by unanimous consent, was a manager's amendment making minor technical and dollar amount changes.