Rail bill headed to Senate floor
by Dara Kam | December 8th, 2009The rail bill that is the subject of the special session squeaked out of three Senate committees and is headed to the Senate floor this afternoon where its fate remains in doubt.
The Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee approved the measure by a 4-2 vote. Sen. Chris Smith, a Democrat from Ft. Lauderdale, cast the crucial vote in favor of the measure allowing it to pass out of its final committee and head to the floor for debate this afternoon.
The House easily approved the measure – backed by GOP leaders including Gov. Charlie Crist and Senate President Jeff Atwater – yesterday. The Senate is expected to vote it tomorrow.
Two contentious issues remain in the measure. The AFL-CIO says it would reclassify railroad workers to transit workers and the workers would lose federal job protections that they say make trains safer.
And language in the bill dealing with who would pay for accidents – taxpayers or transportation giant CSX Inc. – on a proposed commuter line that would be shared by the state and CSX is also causing angst for some senators.
Two committees passed the bill earlier by 5-4 votes thanks to some committee changes ordered by Atwater, R-North Palm Beach.
Atwater pulled Sen. Ronda Storms, a Valrico Republican and fierce opponent of the SunRail measure included in the bill, off the committee in October. Had Storms remained on the panel, Smith’s vote would again have been the tie-breaker.
Tags: CSX, Florida Senate, SunRail, Tri-Rail
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