SD8 - Report on the Activities of Virginia-North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Commission


    Executive Summary:
    Virginia-North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Commission
    (SJR 396 of 2001 and SJR 335 of 2002)

    Since its creation in 2001, the Virginia-North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Commission has held meetings both in Virginia and in North Carolina, including one trip by Amtrak Acela express from Washington to Baltimore and back. After extensive testimony from both Virginia's and North Carolina's state agencies in charge of rail programs, from various spokespersons representing the rail industry in both states and elsewhere, representatives of the federal government, and other concerned citizens, the commission agreed to recommend to its respective parent legislatures the enactment of an interstate rail compact embracing Virginia and North Carolina, with the possibility that other states might also join the compact in the future.

    In Virginia, the commission's recommendation was embodied in Senate Bill No. 126, which passed and was signed into law as Chapter 662 of the Acts of Assembly of 2004. In North Carolina, the legislative vehicle was Senate Bill 1092, which became Session Law 2004-114. With the establishment of this compact, the work of our legislative study commission is concluded, and any follow-up issues can be taken up by the new Compact Commission established by out two states. The legislative study commission has not met since January of 2004, when it agreed to recommend creation of the interstate compact, and its mandate from the Virginia General Assembly expired on November 30, 2004. Since the recommended legislation is now law in both states, we can forgo the formality and the expense of publishing a final report that would no longer serve any useful legislative purpose.