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| December 10, 2010 |
Obama admin pulls funding from states with GOP Governors
Posted by Staff |
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The AP reports:
The Obama administration is taking $1.2 billion in high-speed rail money away from Ohio and Wisconsin and awarding it to 12 other states, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday.
Both Ohio and Wisconsin have elected incoming Republican governors who oppose the rail projects. Those governors, whose states have been hit hard by the economic downturn, had asked if they could divert the money to other projects.
But LaHood said he was awarding the money to states that are eager to have it for their rail projects.
High-speed trains will not only improve transportation but reinvigorate manufacturing and put people back to work in jobs that pay well, LaHood predicted in a statement.
States gaining the most money include California, $624 million; Florida, $342 million; Washington, $161 million; and Illinois, $42 million. Other states receiving lesser amounts include New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, North Carolina, Iowa, Vermont and Indiana.
A commuter rail line in Wisconsin between Milwaukee and Chicago will still get about $2 million.
In Ohio, Gov.-elect John Kasich had declared dead a project that would have created passenger train service between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. He had requested that LaHood allow him to use the $400 million in federal funds on other transportation projects like road construction or freight lines. |
| 12/10/10 7:03 AM |
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