(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Senator Ted Cruz goes after Amtrak exec bonuses, ignores private rail CEO pay, truth about Amtrak [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-13 Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has issued a broadside complaining about Amtrak paying executives bonuses while the national rail passenger system is $1.7 billion in the red. The New York Times has a write up on the complaints by the Senator, but for those who read past the headline, Amtrak Pays Executives Six-Figure Bonuses as Losses Continue, the real story is quite different . (Full access gift link.) Cruz is perpetrating several misstatements about how Amtrak is actually supposed to operate. (Amtrak is by law NOT required to make a profit for example.) If anything, the pay for Amtrak executives is nowhere near what the private freight rail industry execs can expect, and Cruz ignores the massive government subsidies to airlines and highways which aren’t expected to show a profit either. From the Times article: Fourteen Amtrak executives received more than $200,000 each in incentive bonuses last year despite the service’s poor recent financial performance and struggles with its capital improvement projects, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. In 2023, Amtrak paid out more than $5 million in short- and long-term incentive bonuses to its executives even as the passenger rail service posted $1.7 billion in losses, according to records obtained from Senator Ted Cruz’s office. Particularly problematic for Amtrak has been its effort to upgrade its service on the Acela, a popular high-speed express route between Boston and Washington, D.C. “From delays for the new Acelas to annual shortfalls in the billions of dollars, Amtrak’s performance has been seriously deficient,” Mr. Cruz said. “It’s inexplicable that a dozen-plus Amtrak executives collected six-figure bonuses on the taxpayer’s dime.” It’s inexplicable only if you are a Republican. You don’t hear Senator Cruz complaining about record profits in the freight rail sector and those executives getting multi-million dollar payouts even as their anti-worker policies nearly led to a national railroad strike, and their obsession with Precision Scheduled Railroading has led to massive accidents and terrible service while rewarding shareholders. It’s also worth noting that, according to the article, Congress is demanding more transparency from Amtrak on how their bonus payments are arrived at. Private industry is not getting that kind of scrutiny from Congress. As the Times notes: Amtrak has defended its payouts in recent years, saying that the bonuses help make its jobs more competitive and desirable. The chief executives of freight railroads, which are profitable, received millions in bonus and incentive payments last year, for example. “For Amtrak to be successful, we need to attract highly skilled employees all over the U.S. and compete with the private-sectors freight railroads, consulting firms, airlines and others that seek the short supply of qualified staff in the U.S.,” Christina Leeds, a spokeswoman for Amtrak, said in a statement this week. emphasis added Amtrak is finally seeing significant investment (Thanks Joe!) and is embarking on ambitious plans to add more routes and upgrade frequency and services on existing routes. Demanding that Amtrak show improvements immediately ignores the reality that it is going to take years for these plans to reach fruition. Amtrak does not own most of the tracks it runs on; it has to work out arrangements with the freight railroads — which have been averse to hosting Amtrak for years. It’s not just about investing in upgrading infrastructure. There are disputes between local and state governments and regulatory hurdles that threaten to derail plans. There’s also ingrained skepticism about expanding passenger rail. Mobile, AL has people asking why anyone would want to take a train there, or even visit at all. Still, a survey commissioned by Amtrak last year found overwhelming support for investing in passenger rail. Survey highlights include: 92 percent of respondents say it’s “important” for the United States to invest in passenger rail safety and service improvements; 86 percent of respondents believe in the importance of a strong American passenger rail system; 83 percent of respondents support passenger rail investments identified by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA – such as modern trains, aging tunnel and bridge replacements, new routes, etc.; and 81 percent of respondents want their state to invest in bringing more passenger rail service to their local area. “Americans are rooting for passenger rail to further enhance mobility, invest in communities and strengthen connections across the United States,” said Nicole Bucich, Amtrak’s vice president of network development. “With strong support from every region in the country, Amtrak is working closely with our various state and host railroad partners to meet the many demands for train travel,” she added. It should be noted that Cruz complaining about Amtrak paying bonuses ignores that it comes from changes Congress insisted on. Again from the Times: It [Amtrak] said it created the bonus incentive program in 2013 after making changes to its pension program and closing it off for new employees, which has saved the rail service hundreds of millions of dollars, Ms. Leeds said. “We used to offer defined pensions and retiree benefits to attract employees that were paid regardless of performance,” she said. “We moved, at the recommendation of Congress, to performance-driven incentives — incentives are cheaper for the taxpayer and drive business results.” Jim Matthews of the Rail Passengers Association periodically has to dust off a piece he wrote in 2019 in response to chronic calls for Amtrak to turn a profit. 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