Nebraska could rejoin regional passenger rail advocacy group under legislative bill

Nebraska could rejoin a regional passenger rail advocacy group it helped found several decades ago under a bill heard in the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee hearing Monday afternoon.

The bill, LB256, introduced by Sen. Dan Quick, would restore Nebraska's membership in the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact (MIPRC) and create a cash fund to carry out passenger rail projects. Quick served on MIPRC during his previous stint in the Legislature before the state sunset its membership.

“Nebraska has been a leader in rail for over 100 years. We are pro-rail state," he said. "It's important for Nebraska to have a voice in current and future passenger rail development that will bring significant transportation and economic benefit to our state.”

The compact is made up of state officials from eight member states including Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Wisconsin. The group coordinates with private and public sector partners from across the Midwest and works to procure grants for passenger rail improvements and planning.

MIPRC director Laura Kliewer said the compact was recently awarded a federal grant for rail infrastructure safety improvements in the region.

“We'll do the initial work, but if you aren't a member of the compact, we don't know how much we'll be able to incorporate Nebraska routes," she said.

Nebraska is one of four eligible Midwest states, the other three being Iowa, Ohio and South Dakota, that is not a MIPRC member.

Nebraska first joined the MIPRC as a founding member in 2001, but left in 2018 due to concerns with the cost of membership, $15,000 annually at the time, and limited rail investment in return. State senators voted 39-6 in 2015 to exit the group under a bill from Sen. Bill Kintner.

At Monday's hearing, some of the bill's proponents, including Lincoln resident Luke Riley, said there should be an improved system this time around.

"Opponents say Nebraska's previous membership yielded very little benefits. This is because we failed to appoint representatives properly to our seats in the compact," he said. "We signed up, but we didn't show up. This time would be different."

Quick said other states in the compact had representatives appointed by the executive branch. In Nebraska, only the Legislature appointed members.

"The governor didn't appoint anybody to go. So that's where we maybe fall into that crack, where we could have gotten maybe more funds, had we been able to have more support, maybe, from Gov. Ricketts at the time," Quick said.

Rejoining the group would cost $25,000 annually. The state also owes $15,000 to the MIPRC from its previous time as a member, but the compact agreed to waive the unpaid dues if Nebraska rejoins.

Quick said he would try to fundraise the cost from passenger rail advocacy nonprofits instead of state funding this time around.

"I would think it would not be paid by general funds," he said. "The problem is that people don't want to contribute to it, unless we know for sure we're going to be in it, right? So we're in like a Catch 22."

There were no in-person opponents at Monday's hearing, but there were six letters sent in opposition to the bill.

Similar bills to rejoin the compact have been introduced in recent sessions, both from Quick and Sen. George Dungan, but they have each failed to make it out of committee. It's now up to the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee to determine whether Quick's effort this year will have the same fate.

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