8 | American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association Beyond that, there was an act passed in 2008, the Rail Safety Improvement Act, that regulations were going to be put forth for this, that and the other thing. So we’ve been working to address those issues as those translate into actual regulations with specifics. I would say those are probably the two biggest things we’ve got going right now – the effort to renew and enhance the short line tax credit, which was renewed in 2004, and also to mitigate or make work the various regulations that come down the pike from the Federal Railroad Administration and other regulating bodies. BW: What are the prospects for renewal of the tax credit? Does it look good? MEARS: We’re cautiously optimistic. We relate it to the past when the credit has been extended at the last minute with other deserving tax credits, as part of a omnibus bill that bundles them all together in what’s called a tax expendage package. So we’re cautiously optimistic and working hard to see that it, as it has in the past, gets renewed. BW: Has that been a fairly bipartisan type of thing? MEARS: Yes, it has. The Senate had 49 supporters and we’re confident that we can get a majority of the Senate to support it. The House bill, which is pretty much identical in content, has 229 co-sponsors and that number is changing daily as our members go out and talk to their congressmen and congresswomen about the importance of this tax credit. So we have majority support in the House and we expect that we can convince people to get majority support in the Senate. They say that the tax credit is amongst the most widely supported of all of the tax credit legislations that are out there. BW: If we were to revisit this conversation five years down the road, do you have specific goals for the organization? Do you have a membership number? Are there any other things in terms of the association that you
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