(The following story by Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda appeared on the Tallahassee Democrat website on December 13, 2009.)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — I believe in mass transit as a solution to a sustainable future. There is no doubt that we are overdue for more efficient transportation that saves resources and the environment. I have made a personal commitment to ride the bus, as I did to this past week’s special legislative session. I also car pool more often, walk, consolidate trips, and, not as often as I would like, ride my bike to get to where I’m going. It pained me to cast a “no” vote on the rail legislation. We are past time for rail. But my question is, at what cost?
At a time when we expect a $2.4 billion shortfall in the state’s budget, we need to think long and hard about where to cut, where to spend, and where to find new sources of revenue. We needed to consider education funding, health, safety and human-service needs. We need economic development incentives that help the entire state. Florida A&M is considering layoffs, and pink slips have already gone out to tenured professors at Florida State; we are all too aware that this is happening across our state. Very few Floridians were untouched by the recent severe budget cuts to good programs that empower and protect them.
As I considered my vote, I asked myself, how would a healthy Florida family set its priorities? Just as a financially stressed family would discuss spending priorities and investment opportunities around the kitchen table, so should the Florida Legislature discuss and setting priorities in our committee rooms and on the floor of the House and Senate. The narrow scope of last week’s special session was not enough. Priorities such as education, keeping people in their homes, health care, public safety and less expensive, more equally distributed and less speculative job creation, should have been discussed. This special session, the Legislature made a decision that was similar to a family deciding to go into debt to buy a luxury car instead of sending a deserving and talented children to college.
My reasons for a thumbs-down on HB 1B boil down to: Was this a fair deal for taxpayers, and is now the time?
• If we have found additional revenue that we did not have during this past regular session, our citizens deserved a full-blown discussion of our options and priorities. Was this deal really the best use of the revenue with all the pressing needs of our state?
• We all agree we must get the parents of Florida’s children back to work so that they can provide good and stable homes. We heard about jobs during special session, but several amendments to ensure that the rail jobs created would actually go to Floridians were voted down.
• In some ways, most telling of the overall nature of the bill is that HB 1B will fund Tri-Rail, with guesstimates of future increases in gasoline tax revenues as part of the “dedicated funding source.” The bill rests, in part, on the hope that Floridians will double their gas purchases over the next decade and therefore keep the coffers at DOT full in order to support rail. This defies common sense.
• The property that the state will purchase from CSX has not been re-appraised since 2007. We’re paying too much money, at $7 million to $10 million a mile.
I strongly support mass transit and other alternatives to the internal-combustion engine as our chief mode of travel. I suggest we find and support a sustainable and smart source of funding for alternative transportation, one that works with and not against the overall policy of getting gas-guzzling cars off the road.
In addition, I would like to secure funding for the most powerful economic engine we can develop: The education and preparation of our children and their parents to compete in a highly competitive global innovation economy. New innovation in energy and efficient machines are what we need to rebuild. Passenger rail, buses, bike lanes, electric trolleys, light rail and alternative fuels are imperative to our future.
Not only is the value of the bargain for Floridians vitally important, but to do these things we need more revenue. Collecting the taxes we are already owed is a first step and just plain common sense. Once again, I have filed a bill for the regular session to do just that. Stay tuned!