In two recent op-eds of national interest, government officials from six states have joined the growing chorus of voices questioning the transparency and economic risk of the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger.
Jack Bondon, who serves as the Auditor of Cass County, Missouri and who previously served three terms as a State Representative for the Missouri House 56th District, wrote that UP “has not earned our trust” in this opinion column published in The Missouri Times.
“When I see the approach Union Pacific has taken to move this merger forward, the Auditor in me demands more transparency,” he wrote. “… As a Show-Me-State Auditor, I say Union Pacific has not earned our trust.”
Bondon isn’t alone in raising red flags about the planned merger and asking if it’s in the public’s best interest. Writing in Montana’s Flathead Beacon, the Attorneys General representing five states called on the STB to reject the rail merger. In their opinion column, co-authored by Attorneys General Austin Knudsen (Montana), Kris Kobach (Kansas), Brenna Bird (Iowa), James Uthmeier (Florida) and Drew Wrigley (North Dakota), they wrote: “A UP-NS merger doesn’t serve farmers. It doesn’t serve shippers… It serves UP’s bottom line. Inflated prices will lead to extra profits. The STB should reject it.”
The state elected leaders assert that the proposed merger is not in the public interest, a significant measuring stick for the Surface Transportation Board in approving rail mergers. “When a company’s proposal can’t meet a legal standard, it has only one move: argue for a lower standard. That’s exactly what is happening with UP’s proposed $85 billion mega-merger with Norfolk Southern.”
Click here to read the full article from the Flathead Beacon.