UPDATE (1/21/11): The Iowa House approved a measure to cut the funding. It will likely move to the Senate. If you live in Iowa, use this link to contact your Rep and Senator today to tell them you support this important line.

Potentially following in the footsteps of Wisconsin and Ohio, the Republicans in the state legislature are considering the possibility of killing Iowa’s portion of a planned higher speed passenger rail line from Chicago to Iowa City that would pass through the Quad Cities and the new Moline (Ill.) multimodal transportation hub funded by a TIGER grant.

Just after the last round of TIGER grants were announced, Iowa and Illinois received a joint $230 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration — separately from the DOT’s high-speed rail program — to start new 110 mph service from Chicago to Iowa City; service that could eventually connect to Des Moines and Omaha and lay the groundwork for a true 220 mph high-speed system connecting Iowa to the hub (Chicago) of the midwest’s high speed network.

The feds have committed $230 million of the $310 million that the two states were asking for on this project, leaving the states to come up with the rest. Iowa had committed around $10 million toward the gap, but state Republicans are currently working on a budget that would cancel that funding and result in all sorts of dilemmas for the project. From the Des Moines Register:

The Republican-sponsored budget package would not provide any state money needed to establish and subsidize operations for the route, almost certainly forcing the Iowa Department of Transportation to return a federal grant of $81.4 million already awarded for the passenger train project.

Where the story on this project differs from similar recent stories in Wisconsin and Ohio of grants going back to Washington is that this project spans two states for an interstate rail line. Illinois will be able to keep their share of the grant, which is larger since the bulk of the route spans their state, but what will happen to the route? Will it simply stop at the border at the new Moline multimodal hub? What about the future of a Omaha/Des Moines/Iowa City connection to Chicago? Will it bypass important Iowa cities?

It’s imperative that the Iowa legislature and Governor Branstad follow through on their state’s commitment to build this valuable new service. Following the path of I-80 and I-88, it would hit all the major population centers of Iowa on it’s way to and from Chicago.

Could this be the new terminal of the line intended to travel into Iowa? Photo of the planned Moline (Illinois) multimodal center.

The silliest comment of the day comes from Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, who somehow manages to compare the benefits of a ditch being dug and filled in to an invaluable direct transportation connection to the economic engine of the Midwest.

“I can hire someone to dig a ditch, hire somebody to fill it in, and somebody would claim it creates a job, but does it really accomplish anything?” McKinley said. “I think that’s the question we have to ask ourselves about passenger rail to Chicago.”

The legislative session hasn’t started yet, so it may be premature to jump to any conclusions yet as the Iowa Chamber said, but as the recent cuts in Wisconsin and Ohio showed us, it’s important that these leaders hear from supporters early and often — long before a decision is made. And incoming Governor Terry Branstad has thus far pledged to keep the issue nonpartisan and examine the project fairly and honestly. He needs to be held to that promise.

Iowa residents: Call and write your state legislators and Governor Branstad and tell them that this project is crucially important to Iowa’s future. You can use this page to look up their phone numbers and emails.

Similar to a project in Normal, Illinois that won a grant back in February, the new hub will connect all transit services at one new central location in Moline, bringing together Amtrak, local buses, taxis and bicycle and pedestrian facilities, enhancing this area of Moline’s waterfront and making travel easier for all Quad Cities residents. It is expected to support up to 825 new, permanent jobs and eventually, when the new passenger rail link from Moline to Chicago breaks ground, it will produce 1,600 direct and indirect jobs.

(And that specific Quad Cities-Chicago rail link won high-speed rail funding separately today for that corridor and will definitely move forward.)

“Throughout the state, we have seen transportation investments bring new jobs to communities,”  Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said. “This new station and new Amtrak service from Chicago will serve as a magnet for economic development for Moline and the entire Quad Cities region.”

With many local elected officials from both Illinois and Iowa present at the announcement last week, including Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Representative Phil Hare (D-IL), there was a palpable excitement in the room, especially for those who knew how competitive the TIGER II grants are. US DOT received more than 1,000 applications totaling $19 billion for just $600 million in funding, leaving far more communities across the U.S. disappointed than elated last week.

The Moline Transportation center was 1 of only 75 projects funded in the TIGER program, and many of the officials applauded the work of the locals at Quad Cities Passenger Rail Coalition and Renew Moline, which both worked countless hours to put together a compelling application and assemble a large diverse coalition and local supporters to ensure that local interests and needs were considered.

“The Amtrak Station funding is the culmination of years of hard work by Quad Cities’ community leaders and elected officials who took action in response to the outpouring of public demand for passenger rail service,” said Paul Rumler, Executive Director of the Quad Cities Passenger Rail Coalition.

The new station will be built across from the existing Centre Station facility and connected via a pedestrian walkway. The facility will support passenger rail, public transit, car rental and water taxi, making it much easier for passengers to move from mode to mode.

“This station was one of the final pieces to the puzzle of bringing passenger rail to the Quad Cities,” Congressman Hare said. “It will be an engine for economic development for the entire Quad Cities region.”

The grant was awarded to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which was directed earlier this year by Governor Quinn to make the Moline Transportation Project a top priority. Governor Quinn committed $45 million in state funds to construct necessary connections between the Iowa Interstate Railroad and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway that will allow for passenger rail service to reach the Quad Cities. The construction for the connection, which is to begin early 2011, will create an estimated 440 jobs.

“The Illinois Department of Transportation is committed to building a network of passenger rail that creates jobs and serves the residents of a 21st Century economy,” Secretary Hannig said. “This project puts us one step closer to accomplishing that goal.”

LISTEN: Audio of Governor announcing the funding to build the Moline Transportation Center.

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series profiling the winners of the US DOT’s TIGER grants on the T4 America blog. For more information about the TIGER grants, view our interactive map and list of all the winners, read the rest of the posts in the series profiling the winners, and read all TIGER-related stories with the “TIGER” tag from the blog.

That’s the question that a group of representatives in the House and Senate will soon have to answer as they try to reconcile differences in the two chambers’ versions of the yearly transportation appropriations bill. A few weeks ago, the House passed a transportation budget with $4 billion for high-speed rail. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed their version of the yearly spending bill with only $1.2 billion for high-speed rail.

So a group of organizations, including Transportation for America, started rallying support for more funding for high-speed rail. Did you or your organization sign the petition at FourBillion.com urging Congress to keep the $4 billion in the bill?

A few members of the FourBillion.com campaign took that petition with more than 100 organizations and thousands of names to a few Congressional offices last week and hand-delivered the message that now is the time to make a historic investment in rail and kickstart a national investment in fast, clean rail travel that can connect our metro areas.

John Krieger from US PIRG and Danny Plaugher, executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail visited with Rep. Tom Perriello (VA), Rep. John Olver (MA), Rep. Eric Cantor (VA), and Rep. Debbie Halvorson (IL) to deliver the signatures. The full set of photos are here on our Flickr stream.

FourBillion.com 6 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America

House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (VA), right, meets with John Krieger, left, and Danny Plaugher of Virginians for High Speed Rail as they deliver petition signatures from FourBillion.com to Rep. Cantor supporting the $4 billion for high-speed rail in the House DOT appropriations bill. Photos courtesy of FourBillion.com and US PIRG.

FourBillion.com 2 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America

Rep. John Olver (MA), right, with John Krieger of US PIRG, left, and Danny Plaugher of Virginians for High Speed Rail as they deliver petition signatures to Rep. Olver from FourBillion.com supporting the $4 billion for high-speed rail in the House DOT appropriations bill. Photos courtesy of FourBillion.com and US PIRG.

When the stimulus passed in February, $8 billion for high-speed rail was added at the 25th hour, at the behest of the Obama administration. In the days since, states have scrambled to prepare their proposals to receive a share of the money, which will be distributed via a process of competitive grants.

When the administration’s blueprint was released in April, President Obama said “high-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”

With states competing for their share of the $8 billion to start developing and building high-speed corridors, competition was sure to be tough. As recently as yesterday, we had heard that $93 billion in grant applications were submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Just today, we saw this statement from DOT Secretary LaHood’s office detailing an even higher number: 278 pre-applications for grant funding totaling $102 billion. 40 states and the District of Columbia submitted proposals to get a share of the $8 billion available in the stimulus.

“The response has been tremendous and shows that the country is ready for high-speed rail,” Secretary LaHood said.  “It’s time to look beyond our highways and invest in public transportation services like rail, which will enhance regional mobility and reduce our carbon footprint.”

Next up for the DOT and the Federal Railroad Administration is figuring out which of these 278 applications to move forward in the process. The first step will likely be figuring out which proposals best line up with the administration’s already-released blueprint for the 10 national high-speed rail corridors. The first grantees will be announced in the fall, according to the DOT release.

Updated: More details and a statement from T4 posted here

President Obama made headlines this morning by presenting a blueprint for creating a high-speed rail network in the United States.

By articulating this vision, the administration has put to rest any doubts that it is ready to connect our cities and regions with a 21st century network of passenger rail that will make us globally competitive and help us rebuild our economy for the long haul.

The new administration has already made the single biggest investment in high-speed rail by committing $8 billion in the recovery bill passed in February. At his press conference today, President Obama let Americans know that building out a technologically advanced rail network isn’t a pipe-dream — it’s a much-needed strategy for making our economy viable and putting us on the level of other developed countries for train travel:

“A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve,” Obama said in prepared remarks. “High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”

Aside from simply articulating his administration’s commitment to passenger rail, President Obama announced the release of a new report that shows how we can help protect our climate, strengthen our economy, and regain our competitive edge by building on a set of 100 to 600 mile rail corridors across the U.S.

Geoff Anderson, the president of Smart Growth America and co-chair of Transportation for America, has been working at the front lines for years to help us grow smarter and build better transportation systems, and found much to support in Obama’s statements.

“It’s really exciting that this administration, unlike past administrations, is interested in transportation and will play a role,” Anderson said. “From the American public standpoint that’s an exciting thing, particularly when he has an understanding of how transportation affects us, from our pocket books to climate change, and from households to the global community.”