By William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief, Railway Age Magazine; August 24, 2020
Six U.S. Representatives—three Democrats and three Republicans—have introduced bipartisan legislation enabling a tax credit for freight railcar owners purchasing new or refurbishing existing equipment that “will incentivize investment in safer, greener freight railcar manufacturing in the United States.” The legislation, H.R. 8082, is the “Freight Rail Assistance and Investment to Launch Coronavirus-era Activity and Recovery (RAILCAR) Act.”
H.R. 8082’s sponsors are Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) Schneider and LaHood were joined by Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Rail, and by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), both members of the House Ways & Means Committee.