(The following story by Marc Caputo appeared on the Miami Herald website on November 26, 2009.)
MIAMI, Fla. — The leaders of the Florida Legislature on Wednesday all but guaranteed they would call a special session Dec. 3 to handle South and Central Florida commuter-rail issues and a state high-speed rail proposal.
Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul said all details had not been ironed out, but they thought it would be relatively easy to strike a tentative deal to dedicate more money to South Florida’s Tri-Rail system and to reduce taxpayers’ exposure to lawsuits in Central Florida’s SunRail proposal if the private company CSX is at fault in an accident.
If both rail issues are approved, the leaders hope, federal transit officials will look more kindly on the state’s request for $2.5 billion in federal money for high-speed rail.
SunRail is still a sticking point, however, in the Florida Senate, where the proposal has failed for two years straight.
Previously, lawmakers planned to start the special session the week of Dec. 7, when lawmakers would be in the Capitol for a committee week, but Atwater and Cretul opted for the earlier date so the session would not interfere with Hanukkah, which begins Dec. 11.