Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

GUEST COLUMN:

Look back 40 years for blueprint to solve today’s problems

While COVID-19 has threatened the foundations of Nevada’s tourist-driven economy, I’m heartened not only by our resilient workforce but also the range of economic advantages that will continue to power our city and state recovery.

We’re ready to do business — buoyed both by a location with ready access to West Coast markets and robust transportation connections.

At the core of these connections is a freight rail network that has worked tirelessly to keep serving us throughout the pandemic. Rail also happened to celebrate a major milestone this month — the 40th anniversary of federal legislation that created the modern freight rail network we rely on today. The Staggers Rail Act, passed in 1980 by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress that seems quaint right now, has wide implications for the Nevada and national economies.

That’s why I joined hundreds of local leaders from across the country recently in signing a group letter to Congress that commemorates the Staggers Act and calls on federal policymakers to preserve its core tenet: “deregulation done right.”

Some backstory: Railroads faced extinction in the 1970s. A heavy-handed system of government controls and mandates dictated where and when trains operated, and how much railroads could charge for their services. While the country was still growing, overregulation had stifled rail companies’ ability to maintain reliable networks and serve customers. For Nevada, that meant cattle ranchers, miners and other industries were left behind.

Congress had to make a choice — either nationalize the railroads or allow them to operate like other businesses in a free market through partial deregulation. Congress chose the latter path in passing the Staggers Act, effectively taking the muzzle off of railroads while still protecting shippers. Rail customers today, four decades later, pay rates that are over 40% lower than they were before Staggers.

Just like building the transcontinental railroad through Nevada in the 1860s, maintaining 140,000 miles of track across today’s modern network is no small feat. Together, America’s freight railroads have invested more than $710 billion into maintaining, expanding and innovating their networks since Staggers was passed, some $25 billion annually in recent years. These private investments in turn create economic opportunities for businesses here in Las Vegas and across the state.

Much like the powerhouse tourism economies in Las Vegas and across Nevada, freight railroads generate economic impact — from jobs to local growth — that is often overlooked and underappreciated. Not to mention, rail spending is undertaken with little to no government assistance, meaning taxpayers benefit when railroads are healthy enough to invest.

Rail is an oft-overlooked mode of logistics that speaks directly to the history of our state. The picture of Nevada as the Wild West is incomplete without the freight trains that connected our bounty to national markets. That trend still continues today, from Las Vegas to Reno to Wells. For example, take Allegiant Stadium: Materials used to build it were moved by rail. Or important commodities like your Amazon, FedEx, or UPS goods delivered right to your doorstep — rail helps move those too.

The passage of the Staggers Act 40 years ago should serve as an example to policymakers today of what coming together on smart, bipartisan legislation looks like. As we continue to look for solutions to our current economic challenges, let the Staggers Act and freight rail’s modern success be a reminder of what is possible when we all work together for the people of Nevada.

Brian Knudsen is a Las Vegas city councilman. He was elected in 2019 to serve Ward 1.