Bill to fund (passenger) rail extension on track (Maine)

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=179227&ac=PHnws

A bill that would provide funding to extend passenger rail service north from Portland to Freeport and Brunswick is going to the Legislature with a solid ought-to-pass recommendation.

Sen. Dennis S. Damon, D-Trenton, and Rep. Boyd P. Marley, D-Portland, co-chairmen of the Legislature's Transportation Committee, said committee members supported the bill on a 9-3 vote.

The proposal calls for the state to take about $2.5 million a year from its car rental tax – roughly half of what the tax now generates – beginning July 1, 2009.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, possibly by the end of this week. Senate action will follow.

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