INDIANAPOLIS | U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., preached South Shore expansion to the choir Tuesday, receiving a friendly welcome from a state legislative panel studying mass transit issues.
The reception was much chillier two months ago, when the congressman spoke to a group of legislative fiscal leaders.
The $1 billion plan to extend commuter rail service to Lowell and Valparaiso needs $350 million in support from Lake and Porter counties. That means state lawmakers must sign onto a $30 million annual tax hike at time when the public is clamoring for tax relief.
"I don't underestimate the difficulty that the General Assembly faces," Visclosky said after the hearing. "I'm convinced that people of both parties are going to come together, they're going to solve the (property tax) problem and recognize that in doing so ... we also have to look for opportunities to make investments."
The congressman told state legislators the South Shore expansion would spur economic development, reduce highway congestion and tailpipe emissions, and unlock thousands of good-paying jobs in Chicago to Hoosiers.
Visclosky wants lawmakers to approve a local funding source for the project during the legislative session that starts in January. Region legislators are eyeing a $50 annual vehicle registration fee, local income taxes or a regional fuel tax, but they haven't settled on a solution.
The legislature's Joint Study Committee on Mass Transit and Transportation Alternatives also heard Tuesday from state Transportation Commissioner Karl Browning, who argued against the state taking a bigger role in public transportation planning.
"I think the committee would like that to change," said state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso. "We need to have a more forward-looking view. Lots of other states are more forward looking than we are."
The committee, which is wrapping up three months of testimony, is drafting a resolution urging the Indiana Department of Transportation to "provide stronger leadership" in the coordination of mass transit. INDOT will spend less than 1 percent of its $2 billion budget this year on public transportation.
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