A provision included in the Senate appropriations bill would extend the Section 45G credit for short-line railroad track maintenance expenditures through 2022.
The extension is intended to encourage investment in short-line railroad operations.
The provision was introduced by U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, and has bipartisan support.
“Short-line rail is like economic bread and butter, working with Idaho farmers and industry,” Crapo said. “It has been great to see the economic expansion efforts in Burley and across Idaho and witness first-hand the job creation this critical industry brings to Idaho and the nation. We need to prioritize this energy-efficient way to moving goods to market into the future.”
Eastern Idaho Railroad used 45G tax incentives to expand shipping options and add jobs in the Burley area.
Short-line railroads and their suppliers support more than 61,000 jobs in the United States, according to an analysis by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The majority of these jobs are in rural America and contribute $6.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
Short-line railroads keep 31.8 million heavy truckloads off local roads and save taxpayers more than $1.5 billion annually in wear and tear on roadways.
A companion bill in the House has bipartisan support.