Deb Fischer
WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to Amtrak Chairman and Director Anthony Coscia questioning the company’s exorbitant bonuses for top-level executives. Amtrak receives significant federal subsidies, so these bonuses are awarded at taxpayers’ expense. In addition to the letter, Senator Fischer introduced a bill that will increase accountability and transparency within Amtrak.
Amtrak paid out nearly $75 million in bonuses during fiscal year (FY) 2023, comprising four percent of the company’s $1.75 billion net loss that year. The company awarded annual bonuses larger than $200,000 to 14 executives.
“C-suite executives of any other corporation that suffered over $1 billion in annual losses would be fired. Amtrak, however, is rewarding them. These bonuses are particularly galling because they come at taxpayers’ expense without Amtrak having achieved even satisfactory performance,” the Senators wrote.
“Neither financial performance, customer satisfaction, operational excellence, nor capital project success explains the bonuses the Board has awarded,” the Senators continued.
In the letter, Sens. Fischer and Cruz requested a briefing from Amtrak on how its board sets metrics for bonus awards, especially on the proportionality of these awards when they are necessarily funded by federal taxpayers. They also inquired into the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) oversight of Amtrak’s bonus awards. Finally, they asked how the Amtrak Board and FRA are working to reduce operating losses and net losses.
Read the full text of this letter here.