(The following story by Nicola M. White appeared on The Tampa Tribune website on May 1.)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A deal that would pay CSX Transportation $450 million in state funds in exchange for using 61.5 miles of the company’s tracks for commuter rail may have crashed in the Legislature this year.
Minutes before the close of business Wednesday, Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, announced that he was removing a controversial provision from a piece of legislation that would lay the groundwork for the project.
The provision, which makes the state promise not to sue CSX in the event of a passenger accident, is key to the deal; eliminating the liability provision derails the whole project.
Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, one of the proposal’s most powerful backers, said Wednesday that he didn’t think the project, which would bring commuter rail in Central Florida, would come to fruition this year.
“I think the liability issue is dead,” he said.
The Tampa Tribune began reporting on the CSX deal more than eight months ago, describing the secrecy that surrounded its planning and former Gov. Jeb Bush’s involvement. Tribune reporters continued to follow the story as policymakers began to question the many facets of the deal, including its cost and the liability provisions.
Baker’s announcement indicates the stormy feelings in the Senate about the project, which includes paying for improvements to the company’s freight train tracks. The state also would have to pay for highway overpasses.
Although commuter rail has been the No. 1 priority for Orlando-area lawmakers and has been heavily lobbied by some of the most powerful politicians in the Capitol, it also has been attacked by critics who question the secrecy that has shrouded the project as well as the liability provision.
House lawmakers approved the deal this week, but it’s never been a sure sell in the Senate.
Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, has led the charge in the Senate against the deal, particularly because the project would lead to more freight traffic through her hometown. She called the liability provision “an incredibly dangerous piece of policy.”
“The votes are not there in the Senate for the state to shift liability off of a for-profit company and onto the people of Florida,” she said. “They’re just not there.”
Dockery said she had amassed 27 votes by Wednesday to kill the deal; she needed only 20 to succeed.
Never say never in Tallahassee, however. The 60-day Legislative session comes to a close Friday and Baker, the bill’s sponsor, didn’t rule out the idea of the liability provision showing up as an amendment in another bill.
“There seems to be no logical or obvious way to revive it, but there are plenty of people burning the midnight oil to find out how,” said Jamie Holland of the Florida Justice Association, a group that has lobbied against the bill. “It’s going to be a fascinating next two days.”
There is also a lot of time and money riding on this project. Backers of the deal have pulled out all the stops to curry favor, hiring public relations consultants and packing House committee meetings with business and civic leaders to tout the project. Even advocates for the blind have been speaking up in favor of the project, saying mass transit helps the disabled.
Most lawmakers agree that mass transportation is needed in traffic-clogged Central Florida, one of the most popular tourist destination areas in the state. The sticking point, however, has been the way in which the commuter rail project could come about.
For its part, the CSX spokesman wrote in an e-mail Wednesday night that the company was “committed to meeting Florida’s growing freight needs and delivering rail transportation’s economic and environmental benefits.”
“We continue to believe that the state’s transaction with CSX represents an important investment in Florida’s future,” spokesman Gary Sease wrote.