Yesterday began the first of the week long special session in Tallahassee, where the legislature will try to hammer out a deal to find money to maintain the Tri-Rail commuter system in South Florida, as well as a third effort to invest hundreds of millions to create SunRail in central Florida.
The reason for the urgency now is the belief by lawmakers that it's critical to get funding for those systems passed now, to make Florida's bid to receive more than $2.5 billion in federal funds for high speed rail a reality when that money is doled out in the next few months.
In a brief press conference after the various sessions in the House and Senate, Governor Charlie Crist said that "voting against this would be catastrophic, indefensible." The Governor sloughed off complaints by organized labor about how the rail prospects in front of the legislature could endanger over 100 jobs. Crist said "we're all concerned about jobs." And he invoked 14,000 jobs that were possible if high speed rail were to come to Florida.
Via the Florida Channel, CL yesterday watched extensive portions of debate in the House Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy Council, where the committee heard about the merits of rail, pro and con. Among those in the latter category was Ed Turanchik, President of ConnectUs, the local group vying to bring high speed rail to the Sunshine State, calling it "the Tim Tebow of transportation."
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2009.