In an effort to woo a $5 billion Amazon headquarters, the Indiana General Assembly is moving to repeal a law banning light rail from the Indianapolis metropolitan area.
A House committee voted 11-1 this week in favor of legislation to repeal a 2014 law that bars state or local governments from spending money on light rail projects in the seven-county region surrounding Indianapolis.
The effort to repeal the law gained impetus when Amazon recently named Indianapolis one of 20 finalists for its second headquarters.
Also on the list are Chicago, Pittsburgh and Columbus. Cleveland applied for the headquarters but did not make the latest cut.
One of the criteria being used by Amazon to choose what is being termed HQ2 is good public transportation, including rail transportation.
Indianapolis has a bus system but not a rail transit system and there are no current plans to create one.
Amazon is headquartered in Seattle. Dozens of cities in the United States and Canada are eagerly seeking the Amazon headquarters because it promises to provide more than 50,000 jobs with average salaries of more than $100,000 annually.
“Transit is a very major factor for a lot of these major companies that are looking to move here,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Justin Moed (D-Indianapolis).
The 2014 law banning light rail was rooted in a belief by fiscal conservatives that a light rail system would require a taxpayer bailout due to its high costs.
The conservative lawmakers demanded the light rail ban as the price for their support of a measure to allow Indiana counties to increase incomes taxes through referendum for public transit projects.
Tags: Amazon, Chicago, Columbus Ohio, Indiana, Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis, light rail, Pittsburgh, Public transit, Public transportation
akronrrclub.wordpress.com 
Leave a Reply