Gov. Bobby Jindal’s inability to comprehend or calculate simple math is baffling. Maybe he needs a lesson or two under Common Core.
During the height of the recession, the Obama administration decided to jumpstart the economy, offering states money to pay for various infrastructure projects. CBS News noted Jindal had access to $4 billion that never had to be paid back, with “$538,575,876 for infrastructure spending.” The White House predicted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 would create “50,000 jobs in the state.”
Jindal turned down the entire share of Louisiana’s stimulus money. Washington Times reported, “He said accepting the money would have required a change in state law and, after federal money runs out in three years, would have led to a $12 million increase in taxes on his state’s businesses to keep funding the benefit.”
One of the projects not funded because of Jindal’s pandering to Grover Norquist and his cronies was a commuter rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
This rail line would travel at 79 mph, make two trips per day and take about an hour and half. By 2016, an expected $6.9 billion will be spent by tourists in New Orleans.
If the rail line is built, these tourists will be able to travel between seven different parts of the super region with the route passing through downtown Baton Rouge, suburban Baton Rouge near Essen Lane, Gonzales, LaPlace, Kenner, Jefferson Parish off Airline Drive and ending at the Amtrak station near the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
All facts and figures were derived from the Baton Rouge-New Orleans Intercity Rail Feasibility Study.
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune noted this project would have received $300 million from the federal government. The project, deemed too expensive by Jindal, would have cost $150 million to $200 million after the credits from the federal government. After the initial costs, “another $18 million in subsidies a year [would have been required] to operate” the rail system.
After Jindal turned down this proposal, the Legislature created the Louisiana Super Region Rail Authority to retool the proposal and come up with a plan Republican voters would approve of. The Authority devised a new plan able to cut the cost, according to Metro Magazine “to a more digestible $6.7 million a year.”
Nothing has happened on this front since the retooling.
Jindal never made the project a part of his legislative agenda during previous sessions and left the issue to dangle over the head of the next governor. And it’s a shame because it would be a massive benefit to the state.
According to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, a high-speed passenger rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans would allow 50,000 fewer people to have to drive in between both cities every day, lessening the environmental impression of those commutes.
Seventy-five thousand new jobs are expected along this corridor by 2022, many of them highly skilled. Moreover, The Advocate noted projections estimate “more than $20 billion in development and expansion projects over the next several years” will occur in this region.
This creates a situation where out-of-state applicants will flood the state, put down roots in new communities outside of the Baton Rouge or New Orleans congestion and build their careers in this state.
Having a modern passenger rail system shows new workers Louisiana is committed to making these people’s lives as enjoyable, productive and safe as possible.
The next governor needs to understand how important these jobs and this super region are to the future of a prosperous, sure-footed and forward thinking Louisiana. This issue needs discussion in upcoming debates and all the candidates should have a clear answer on their plans to take advantage of the $300 million dollars still available to this state.
Garrett Hines is a 21-year-old political science senior from Monroe, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter
@garrettH_TDR.