Nevada lawmakers defend high-speed rail proposal

WASHINGTON — Nevada’s U.S. senators on Tuesday defended the private venture seeking to borrow $5.5 billion from the government to build high-speed rail between Las Vegas and Southern California.

Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller sought to counter fresh criticism that a loan to XPressWest for the 185-mile project would be a bad risk for taxpayers.

Heller said it was disappointing that fellow Republicans Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin have urged the Department of Transportation to reject the loan that would fund most of the $6.9 billion project.

Heller said he was exploring further pushback against opponents, which is coming as the Federal Railroad Administration continues to evaluate the loan application.

“I am concerned about it,” Heller said. Construction of a rail line running 150 mph high-speed trains promises a major shot in the arm for the state, he said. “There is a real opportunity for a real infrastructure program in Southern Nevada that would be very helpful for the economy.”

Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Sessions is ranking Republican on the Senate’s budget-writing panel. They said they have asked the Government Accountability Office to review the rail project, the federal loan program that would supply the funding, and a report issued last summer by the libertarian-leaning Reason Foundation that questioned the venture.

The Reason Foundation report cited by the lawmakers questioned whether the rail line connecting Las Vegas with Victorville, Calif., could generate enough fares and other revenue to cover construction and operating costs. A June study by the Congressional Research Service said “few if any” high-speed rail projects have earned enough money to cover costs.

XPressWest chief executive Anthony Marnell said Monday the Reason Foundation report that formed the base of the criticism was faulty and demonstrated “a clear bias” against the project.

“The fact is that the XPressWest project would generate a wide array of benefits for Nevada, the Western region and the nation at large,” Marnell said, including 80,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction, 2,100 permanent operating jobs and $7.8 billion in economic output.

XPressWest in June reached agreement with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority to extend the rail line 50 miles from Victorville to Palmdale, Calif., and eventually into Los Angeles. Further plans would expand the line to Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Denver.

Reid said Tuesday that President Barack Obama favors the rail line, “and it is something that we should do.”

“I mean can you imagine anyone opposing high-speed rail?” Reid said. “We have such a difficult time getting people back and forth from Southern California to Southern Nevada. And it’s not just to watch the shows in Las Vegas. It’s commerce. Trucks carrying products that need to be carried across the country.”

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., jumped into the issue, saying the high-speed rail project “will bring tens of thousands of jobs to Southern Nevada, and critics armed with partisan math need to get out of the way.”

“Neither a senator from Alabama nor a congressman from Wisconsin will derail a Nevada jobs project,” Horsford warned.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.