Yesterday the Florida House of Representatives passed a rail bill that would create the SunRail commuter train in Orlando, provide $15 million for South Florida's Tri-Rail system, and allow for the possibility that the state could collect over $2.5 billion in stimulus money for high speed rail.
Now the drama moves to the Senate, where the vote as we begin Tuesday appears to be too close to call.
South Florida Democratic State Senator Dave Aronberg told CL last night that "I'm hopeful we can get a deal done. " Speaking at a campaign fundraiser held for him at the South Tampa home of political consultant (and now political aspirant herself) Janet Rifkin-Cruz, Aronbger said, " I support the concept of rail but I want to make sure the liability issues are taken care of, and the labor issues are addressed. And right now, it seems to be in negotiation, and we won’t know until tomorrow or the next day whether these issues will be addressed and we can pass a bill.
Does he think it will pass the Senate? "Right now, I don’t think they have the votes," he replied.
Governor Charlie Crist, a major supporter of getting the legislation passed, met last night with 3 wavering Senators to persuade them to come into the fold. One Senator who has said he will vote no, Agriculture Commission hopeful Carey Baker, has said he might change his mind depending on further negotiations.
There is also the fact that many Democrats are hanging back, waiting to see if the language in the Senate bill will address the serious concerns of organized labor.
One of the best pieces written about the AFL-CIO's concerns was written over the weekend in the Orlando Sentinel. There, columnist Aaron Deslatte wrote:
A state memo outlining FDOT's original deal with CSX in 2006 says the agreement "would provide the freedom to undertake the operations and maintenance of the corridor using non-union contract labor, which would be the most cost-effective and efficient approach."
FDOT was run back then by former Gov.Jeb Bush's aide Denver Stutler, but you can't attribute that anti-union zeal solely to Bush's political leanings. Just last spring, FDOT held a training seminar for road-building contractors called "Staying Union-free in a Pro-union World" and is bringing the same speaker back for next year's conference.
"They're opposed to unions," said AFL-CIO communications director Rich Templin "They want to eliminate unions from the state's transportation system, and that is the sticking point on the SunRail transaction."
Back to Senator Aronberg, who was in Tampa last night raising funds for his battle against Dan Gelber for the party's nomination for Attorney General. On the union issue he said, "I just still am concerned about the labor component, I want to make sure we are not setting a bad precedent that could jeopardize thousands of jobs in the state. I want to create jobs in this not outsource it to low cost out of state workers, so let’s make sure that is done right, let’s make sure funding is done right, that the federal money is gonna come, and then we can get a deal done."
And on the thorny issue of liability with CSX, Aronberg, like other Senate Democrats CL has spoken with, insists (contrary to what Paula Dockery says) that this issue has "improved greatly " since last year. " Last year’s bill would have put the burden on taxpayers in case there’s even an intentional act of wrongdoing by the company, and that was unacceptable, that was one reason why I voted against it last year. It seems like that’s better than last year, there’s an insurance policy and that the taxpayer will be protected".
Among those gathering at the home of the Rifkin's were Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena, Clerk of the Court Pat Frank, House candidate Stacy Frank, Hillsborough County Commission candidate Les Miller, and former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman, among others.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2009.