Senate President Jeff Atwater and his GOP lieutenants insist that the rail proposal now being considered in a special session that opened today has nothing to do with a controversial Central Florida commuter line known as “SunRail.”

That’s probably a wise maneuver since Senators twice failed to pass measures that would have allowed the state Department of Transportation to move forward with a deal paying CSX Inc. $641 million for 61 miles of track to start the commuter line and allow CSX to continue to run freight on the line for $1 a year.

Yet the first committee to take up the 49-page bill in a workshop this morning spent nearly the entire three hours discussing the SunRail project that the measure is supposedly not about.

And Tri-Rail got a fair amount of attention, too.

Sen. Paula Dockery, who’s hoping to ride a victory in the death of the SunRail deal earlier this year to the governor’s mansion, led the charge against SunRail with some simple questions about Tri-Rail.

The proposal will give up to a $15 million helping hand to Tri-Rail that, like every other public transit system in the country, loses money every year.

And it will bring thousands of jobs, said Sen. Jeremy Ring, the bill’s sponsor.

“How many jobs were created when Tri-Rail went into existence 20 years ago,” Dockery asked Ring.

Ring said that the 20-year-old commuter line has 330 employees.

“All I can tell you is today, direct and indirect, it is 330,” Ring said.

“In 2008, Tri-Rail brought in $9 million. What was the deficit that local governments needed to make up?” Dockery continued.

“I believe government needed to make up $46 million,” said Ring, growing peeved by her line of questioning.
“I’d like to know where we’re going with this.
Roads cost money as well. This is not a quiz. This is not a multiple choice quiz.”

SunRail supporter and Transportation Committee Chairman Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, interrupted and told Dockery her questions had nothing to do with the proposed legislation.

“It has everything to do with the bill,” Dockery rejoined. “You’re talking about creating jobs.”

Ring said government transportation projects aren’t supposed to make money.

“If you’re going to look at it as this loses x amount of money, which it does…but I’m not sure the Brooklyn Bridge made money the day it opened. I’m not sure it still makes money,” Ring, D-Margate said.

“It has everything to do with the bill,” Dockery rejoined. “You’re talking about creating jobs.”

Tags: Florida Senate, Jeff Atwater, Jeremy Ring, Paula Dockery, special session, SunRail, transportation, Tri-Rail

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm and is filed under legislature, Paula Dockery, State House, State Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.