Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7681 To establish the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund to ensure a safe, sustainable, convenient transportation option for the people of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 20, 2020 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. RUSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To establish the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund to ensure a safe, sustainable, convenient transportation op- tion for the people of the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intercity Passenger 4 Rail Trust Fund Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7681.IH H7681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7681 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) An effective transportation system for the 3 Nation requires dedicated, predictable Federal fund- 4 ing for various capital and operating expenses, as 5 demonstrated by the Highway Trust Fund, which 6 supports all Federal highway programs, most public 7 transit programs, and many Federal transportation 8 safety programs. 9 (2) Intercity passenger rail is the only surface 10 transportation mode in the United States that— 11 (A) does not receive any Federal funding 12 through a trust fund for capital investment; 13 and 14 (B) is completely dependent on annual dis- 15 cretionary appropriations for both its capital ex- 16 penses and its operating costs. 17 (3) In fiscal year 2019, Amtrak experienced 18 record ridership, a historic low-operating loss, and a 19 record capital spend rate. 20 (4) In markets with sufficient infrastructure 21 and train frequency, Amtrak has proven to be an ef- 22 fective mode of transportation when compared to 23 commercial air and bus service and private auto- 24 mobile use. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7681.IH H7681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7681 IH (5) Intercity passenger rail offers substantial 1 safety, energy, and environmental advantages over 2 most other transportation modes, but decades of in- 3 sufficient capital funding has drastically limited the 4 role that intercity passenger rail can play in the Na- 5 tion’s overall transportation network. 6 (6) There are critical capital needs on both the 7 Northeast Corridor and the National Network, in- 8 cluding infrastructure, fleet, stations and facilities. 9 (7) Adding to the urgency of all these needs, 10 due to changing demographics, population growth, 11 urbanization, and changing travel trends, intercity 12 passenger rail will be needed to help move our Na- 13 tion into the future. 14 (8) For these reasons, an Intercity Passenger 15 Rail Trust Fund is needed now, more than ever, to 16 ensure a safe, sustainable, convenient transportation 17 option for the people of the United States. 18 SEC. 3. INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL TRUST FUND. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the 20 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 21 the end the following new section: 22 ‘‘SEC. 9512. INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL TRUST FUND. 23 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 24 Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Intercity Passenger 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7681.IH H7681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7681 IH Rail Trust Fund’, consisting of such amounts as may be 1 appropriated or credited to the fund as provided in this 2 section. 3 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL 4 TRUST FUND.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby appro- 6 priated to the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund 7 for fiscal year 2021, and for each fiscal year there- 8 after, an amount equal to 50 percent of the average 9 annual amounts appropriated to the Highway Trust 10 Fund under section 9503 for fiscal years 2008 11 through 2020. 12 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION OF 13 ADDITIONAL SUMS.—There are hereby authorized to 14 be appropriated to the Intercity Passenger Rail 15 Trust Fund such additional sums as may be re- 16 quired to make the expenditures referred to in sub- 17 section (c). 18 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM THE INTERCITY PAS- 19 SENGER RAIL TRUST FUND.—Amounts in the Intercity 20 Passenger Rail Trust Fund shall be available for obliga- 21 tion without further appropriations action for making ex- 22 penditures to carry out section 24314 of title 49.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7681.IH H7681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7681 IH (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended 2 by adding at the end the following new item: 3 ‘‘Sec. 9512. Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund.’’ SEC. 4. INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL TRUST FUND EXPEND- 4 ITURES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 243 of title 49, United 6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 24313 7 the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 24314. INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL TRUST FUND EX- 9 PENDITURES. 10 ‘‘(a) EXPENDITURES FROM THE INTERCITY PAS- 11 SENGER RAIL TRUST FUND.—Amounts deposited into the 12 Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund each fiscal year pur- 13 suant to section 9512(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 14 1986 shall be available for obligation, without further ap- 15 propriation, consistent with the ratios set forth in sub- 16 section (b). Amounts made available under this section 17 shall remain available until expended. 18 ‘‘(b) INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL TRUST FUND EX- 19 PENDITURE RATIOS.—The Secretary may use amounts 20 deposited into the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund 21 each fiscal year to award grants to Amtrak, in accordance 22 with the process described in section 24319. Of the grant 23 funds awarded pursuant to this subsection— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7681.IH H7681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7681 IH ‘‘(1) 40 percent shall be used for activities asso- 1 ciated with the Northeast Corridor, and 2 ‘‘(2) 60 percent shall be used for activities asso- 3 ciated with the National Network. 4 ‘‘(c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 5 may be construed as prohibiting discretionary funding 6 from being provided to Amtrak.’’. 7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 8 chapter 243 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 9 by inserting after the item relating to section 24313 the 10 following new item: 11 ‘‘24314. Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Expenditures.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7681.IH H7681 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS