S. 174 (119th)Bill Overview

Amtrak Transparency Act

Transportation and Public Works|Transportation and Public Works
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 21, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong>Amtrak Transparency Act</strong></p><p>This bill increases Amtrak's open meeting and public disclosure requirements.</p><p>Specifically, the Amtrak Board of Directors must comply with federal open meeting requirements under the Government in the Sunshine Act.</p><p>In addition, at least 30 days prior to the board convening, the board must publicly post an announcement of the meeting and the anticipated meeting agenda.</p><p>The board must also annually convene a meeting to which state departments of transportation&nbsp;with long-distance routes or state-supported routes are&nbsp;invited to participate.</p><p>Further, Amtrak must publicly disclose the discretionary bonus compensation paid to an Amtrak officer or non-bargaining unit employee.</p><p>Upon request,&nbsp;Amtrak must also disclose to a state or the State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee vendor agreements of $250,000 or more for certain services on state-supported routes.</p>

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.

<p><strong>Amtrak Transparency Act</strong></p><p>This bill increases Amtrak's open meeting and public disclosure requirements.</p><p>Specifically, the Amtrak Board of Directors must comply with federal open meeting requirements under the Government in the Sunshine Act.</p><p>In addition, at least 30 days prior to the board convening, the board must publicly post an announcement of the meeting and the anticipated meeting agenda.</p><p>The board must also annually convene a meeting to which state departments of transportation&nbsp;with long-distance routes or state-supported routes are&nbsp;invited to participate.</p><p>Further, Amtrak must publicly disclose the discretionary bonus compensation paid to an Amtrak officer or non-bargaining unit employee.</p><p>Upon request,&nbsp;Amtrak must also disclose to a state or the State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee vendor agreements of $250,000 or more for certain services on state-supported routes.</p>

Passage38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for Amtrak Transparency Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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