(The following story by Jim Ash appeared on The News-Press website on December 3, 2009.)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When lawmakers convene a special session on rail issues today, it will be a sign of how much, and how quickly, perspectives can change in Florida politics.
House Republican leaders are fast-tracking the session in hopes of landing a $2.6 billion federal stimulus grant for a high-speed rail system that could link Tampa, Orlando and Miami by 2017.
It’s the same Republicans who earlier this year turned down $444 million in federal stimulus money that would have expanded the number of Floridians eligible for unemployment benefits. It’s also the same Republicans who championed the repeal of a constitutionally mandated bullet train that voters called for in 2000.
“At the time, the circumstances were a little different,” said House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala.
The $444 million was a one-time grant that would have left Florida businesses on the hook when the grant ran out, Cretul argues.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came to Orlando in October and warned that Florida could risk losing the high-speed rail grant if lawmakers fail to invest hundreds of millions to create SunRail, a Central Florida commuter rail system, and if they don’t find a way to prop up the ailing Tri-Rail commuter system that serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Republican House leaders have tried twice to pass SunRail, only to see the deal die in the Senate, largely over liability and labor issues, as well as business opposition to a proposed $2 daily surcharge on rental car fees that would have helped pay for the plan.
Shepherding the bill is House Transportation Chairman Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral. Gone are the rental car fees, and negotiations for the state and CSX to share the cost and liability of a $200 million insurance policy should satisfy critics, he said. Lawmakers say they’ll use unexpected surpluses in future gas tax revenue to pay for it.
The SunRail deal calls for the state paying railroad giant CSX Transportation $432 million for 61-miles of track that would parallel I-4 in Central Florida from DeLand to Poinciana. The money would pay for company rail line improvements, for freight overpasses, and for CSX to move its existing terminal in Orlando to Winter Haven to make room for the new passenger rail service. Tri-Rail, which is failing with only 15,000 daily riders, would get between $13 million and $15 million more a year.