"Maryland and the NEC (Northeast Corridor) would benefit greatly from receipt of the federal high-speed rail funds recently rejected by the governor of Florida, " Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement addressed to LaHood.
"We accept that growth is likely to remain positive, but believe that the speed of the recovery will be somewhat slower than the governor indicated", he said.
In Wisconsin, the outgoing governor Jim Doyle claimed over 4, 700 jobs directly related to the high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison would have been realized at the height of construction.