Rochester is having its high-speed rail hearing tonight. It's the latest in a series of public meetings that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has been putting on around the state.
The content of the meeting will probably be the same. It's the context that's changed.
Since last week's midterm elections, high-speed rail funding has become a point of political contention.
Two Republican governors-elect are telling the Obama administration they'd rather spend high-speed rail stimulus money on highway improvements. The Wall Street Journal says Wisconsin's governor-elect, Scott Walker, made the issue a "cornerstone of his campaign."
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is now saying that his agency will take back the stimulus money.
Wisconsin could stand to lose $810 million.
Rep. Louise Slaughter has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to give New York any funding Wisconsin or Ohio refuse to take. She's appearing before the Rochester hearing tonight to lay out her case.
