The Lakeland Ledger reports this morning that Lakeland GOP State Senator (and now gubernatorial candidate) Paula Dockery is not backing down at all after Governor Charlie Crist and Senate President Jeff Atwater said they want a special session to reconsider the SunRail commuter train deal with CSX.
As Dockery told CL two weeks ago, she has yet to see any new information that would allow her to drop her opposition with CSX, which for 2 years has said that it needs to be held harmless for any accidents in exchange for selling the rail lines for the commuter system.
As the Miami Herald reports, senate leaders are considering allowing local government to impose a new $2 rental car surcharge, which in South Florida, would help pay for their rail system, Tri-Rail. In Central Florida, it would help pay for SunRail. But the impetus of course is having the Legislaturer prove to the feds that Florida is serious about providing state funds so that federal funds would come from Washington for high-speed rail. From the Herald:
Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater and others say that such a tax could offer proof to the federal government that Florida is serious about transit, which might help the state qualify for up to $2.5 billion for a high-speed rail line. The line could ultimately connect SunRail, Tri-Rail and even a new transit line along the Florida East Coast rail corridor in the heart of South Florida's urban areas.
A big local proponent of high-speed rail is the Tampa Bay Partnership, who also argue that there should be a special session soon. Yesterday CL obtained an e-mail written by Sarah Hardy, a Legislative aide to Senator Dockery to Stuart Rogel with the Tampa Bay Partnership. Hardy was writing in response to Rogel's claim that the $2.5 billion in federal funding for high-speed rail was in jeopardy if there were NOT to be a special session.
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.