The Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly passed a rail bill that the House easily approved yesterday but for the third time faces a serious challenge in the Senate.

As in its first committee yesterday, the bill passed by a 5-4 vote.

Contentious testimony this morning centered on the controversial “SunRail” Central Florida commuter rail deal in which the state will pay Jacksonville-based CSX Inc. $641 million for 61 miles of track from Deland to Poinciana. The transportation giant would be able to continue to operate its freight on the line in exchange for a $1 a year payment to the state.

Who would pay for accidents on the line was the heart of the debate in the committee this morning.

The proposal would cap liability for CSX - even if freight operator is at fault - at $10 million. The state would be on the hook for the rest of the damages, which have run into hundreds of millions of dollars in other states.

Why wouldn’t Florida do the same as some other states that make freight operators liable for criminal negligence, Sen. Dan Gelber, a lawyer, asked committee Chairman Joe Negron.

“It’s because of pleading requirements and other issues that arise in indemnification agreements we’ve made the choice that we’ve made,” Negron, R-Stuart, said.

Gelber wasn’t satisfied.

“What we’re really doing in this is we’re allowing a private company to insure itself for criminal misconduct, for wanton misconduct, for gross negligence, for gross recklessness which nowhere else in Florida have we ever done. We’ve never done that by statute. So this is a major move,” said Gelber, D-Miami Beach, who was on the losing side of the vote.

The measure is now being heard in the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, where it is also expected to pass.

The Senate will debate the bill on the floor this afternoon.

Lawmakers in the House are debating the 49-page proposal that would pave the way for a $2.2 billion Central Florida commuter rail system, create a statewide rail authority and keep Tri-Rail rolling.

GOP House leaders - who have been heated critics of President Barack Obama’s stimulus spending - say they’re doing all that to increase Florida’s chances of getting a slice of the $8 billion in federal stimulus funds for high-speed rail projects being doled out in January. The state’s applied for four projects totaling about $3.7 billion.

After 20 years of Tri-Rail’s operating in the red, why the rush to bail out the South Florida commuter line - the state’s only existing one - now?

Because U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said so.

“There’s a commitment at the federal level to get into the passenger rail business like it never has before,” LaHood told SunRail supporters in Orlando in October. “But, the only way it will pay off is if the State Legislature gets its act together.”
(more…)

Sen. Ronda Storms complained repeatedly about the rushed special session schedule and what she said is not enough time in a three-hour committee meeting held today to vet a 49-page bill dealing with a variety of rail issues.

She said she’s spent more time shopping for a computer than was devoted to the bill during the three-hour “workshop.”

“As a professional I want the chair to know that I object to the lack of time that we’ve been given,” Storms, R-Valrico, began her line of questions.

Storms likened the omnibus package to the federal bank bail-out package that was pushed through, she said, at the 11th hour and failed to result in the economic boost it promised.

She then launched into an attack on bill sponsor Sen. Jeremy Ring’s contention that the 15,000 who use Tri-Rail every day - two thirds of whom take it to work - will lose their jobs without the Tri-Rail fix included in the measure.

“Suddenly they’ll just be flopping around out there without transportation? That does not speak to me,” Storms said.

Storms prefaced each of her questions with gripes about the rushed scheduled slammed up against the Christmas holidays.

Transportation Committee Chairman and SunRail supporter Andy Gardiner had enough.

“Sen. Storms, I’ve heard the comment. We’re familiar with your position on this. The summary of this bill was sent out on Monday. This is a workshop…there is time over the weekend to review this,” Gardiner, R-Orlando. “I’ve heard ya. And I understand that. But please understand this is just the first opportunity.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday.

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.
(more…)

The Senate kicked off the special session this morning setting into motion a financial fix for Tri-Rail, a thumbs-up on a Central Florida commuter line and the possibility of bringing in billions of federal dollars for high-speed rail projects.

This is the third time around for the controversial Central Florida commuter project known as “SunRail.” The Senate killed the deal - already signed off on by the Department of Transportation - twice, most recently in May.

Critics in the Senate, led by Paula Dockery, objected to the deal in which the state will pay transportation giant CSX Inc. more than $500 million for 61 miles of track for the commuter line. CSX will still be operate its freight on the line in exchange for a payment to the state of $1 per year.

The SunRail deal died in the Senate during the regular legislative session by a 23-16 vote. Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, now apparently has 21 of the 40 senators on his side - just the amount he needs to get the bill passed.

Atwater said the legislation will bring thousands of jobs to the state and boost its flagging economy.

“This is indeed time for visionaries,” Atwater said during a brief opening session this morning. “A time when the people of florida are demanding action and are desperate for relief.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday.

Lawmakers are preparing to start a 10-day session on rail issues that in part could keep Tri-Rail on track.

The 49-page bill legislators will consider includes an extra $13 million to $15 million a year for Tri-Rail that’s been operating at a deficit since its inception two decades ago.

That’s “probably as good as we could get right now,” said Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons, who is also chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority that oversees Tri-Rail.

That’s a big deal for leaders in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties where Tri-Rail runs. Federal officials have threatened to ask the counties to give back more than $200 million if Tri-Rail service is cut back as officials there have threatened.

Tri-Rail is paid for by the state, rider fares and the three counties in which it runs - Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade.

But the commuter line used by 15,000 riders daily has operated in the red by about $15 million every year.

Leaders in the three counties say they don’t have the money to make up the deficit and state lawmakers have refused to grant them the $2 rental car surcharge (also known as a tax) they’ve sought to cover their losses.

Now, state lawmakers are willing to fork over $13 million to $15 million a year to keep Tri-Rail on track to prove to federal lawmakers that Florida is serious about commuter rail. That way, the state will have a better chance at getting some of the $8 billion in stimulus money for high-speed rail projects.

The money will come from gas taxes and other fuel fees and should qualify as a “dedicated funding source” federal officials are seeking, Palm Beach County Commissioner Jeff Koons said.

“I think we ended up in the middle in the sense that we didn’t get our funding source but then a reallocation of those dollars is probably as good as we could get right now,” Koons said.

Florida labor unions blasted state transportation officials for refusing to back down from a proposal to do away with union workers on railroads.

Lawmakers are expected to meet later this week in a special session to vote on commuter rail issues in an effort to tap into nearly $4 billion in federal stimulus money for transportation projects being doled out in January.

At issue is the controversial Central Florida SunRail commuter rail project that lawmakers failed to approve during the past two regular legislative sessions.

Florida Department of Transportation officials already signed off on a deal in which the state would pay transportation behemoth CSX Inc. about $500 million for 61 miles of track and upgrades to its railyards and continue to be able to haul freight on the line that would also be used as a commuter system.

The unions accuse FDOT of refusing to negotiate with them over language in a proposed bill that would effectively prohibit union laborers from working on the construction of new projects or on the SunRail line.

Mike Williams, head of the state AFL-CIO, called the effort “government-sanctioned union busting at its very best.”

FDOT officials have not yet responded to the accusations.

SunRail has the backing of prominent GOP lawmakers, including Gov. Charlie Crist.

The session is also supposed to include a fix for the financially ailing Tri-Rail line.

Next week’s special session to prove the state’s commitment to commuter rail could go nowhere without concessions to unions.

Senate President Jeff Atwater is trying to round up support for a Central Florida commuter line by linking it to a financial fix for the flailing Tri-Rail to draw down federal money for a third project, a high-speed line linking Tampa, Orlando and Miami.

The bill’s been negotiated by House and Senate leaders and the governor’s office behind closed doors throughout the month.

But Atwater’s ability to pass the measure in the Senate could hinge on two key Democratic senators: Democratic Leader Al Lawson of Tallahassee and Tony Hill of Jacksonville.

The labor unions were part of a coalition that killed the Central Florida SunRail deal despite backing from powerful GOP lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist.

Now the unions are pressuring Lawson and Hill to oppose the measure that is expected to include a provision that would allow SunRail to operate without union workers and do away with some Tri-Rail union jobs.

It might be hard for Lawson and Hill to turn their backs on the unions next week.

(more…)

Grover Norquist warned lawmakers not to vote for a rental car surcharge to subsidize financially flailing Tri-Rail as officials consider a special session on rail issues as early as next month.

Norquist, head of Washington, D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform, sent legislators and Gov. Charlie Crist a letter today urging them to forget about the rental car tax.

They’re trying to reach consensus on SunRail, the controversial Central Florida commuter line that lawmakers failed to pass for two years in a row, by including the provision for the South Florida commuter rail.

And they’re trying to convince federal lawmakers that they’re committed to light rail although Tri-Rail lacks a dedicated funding source and ran more than $80 million in the red last year.

That’s because they want to get federal transportation funding for new rail projects Sunrail.

Crist, a SunRail supporter, is urging House and Senate leaders to call a special session as early as next month to deal with the commuter rail project and said today he supports giving voters in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties where Tri-Rail operates the chance to decide whether they want the surcharge.

Lawmakers did previously pass the surcharge but Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed it.

Whether voters approve it or not doesn’t appear to make a difference to Norquist.

“Despite allowing for ‘protections’ such as those in SB 1212 that would bring a tax hike to referendum, allowing a tax hike is still a bad idea,” Norquist wrote. “Facilitating a clear path that allows others to raise taxes is itself an act supporting tax increases.”

Bowing to pressure from federal officials, Sen. Jeff Atwater said today he’d like a December special session to address rail issues.

Gov. Charlie Crist said this afternoon that he would welcome the reconsideration of a controversial commuter rail project that lawmakers failed to pass in the spring and another stab at a gambling compact with the Seminoles.

“That’s a great idea,” Crist said.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, meeting with leaders from Congress and the White House today over Medicaid and rail transit issues said he wants a December special session to show the federal government that Florida needs $2.5 billion in federal stimulus money for high-speed rail.

“The President would like to give the Federal government an answer by the end of the year, December being the earliest we could feasibly have a special session. He plans to talk with the Speaker, Governor and Senate members in coming days,” Atwater’s spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof said in an e-mail.

Here’s our front-page story this morning on some of the issues facing high-speed rail in Florida.

(more…)

Sen. Paula Dockery’s taking her commuter rail clout on board Tri-Rail next week to learn more about the beleaguered South Florida commuter train.

Dockery, a Lakeland Republican, carved out a niche in train transportation by single-handedly derailing the controversial Central Florida commuter system during the legislative session that ended in May.

Dockery objected to the state paying more than $400 million to transportation behemoth CSX Inc. for track and rail yard improvements. Lawmakers failed to approve the deal despite the support of Gov. Charlie Crist, House Speaker-to-be Dean Cannon and other GOP leaders.

More than 1,000 Tri-Rail riders have e-mailed Dockery in the past three months objecting to reductions in service caused by the legislature’s failure to come up with the cash to keep the system on course, she said in a press release.

On top of that, the state may have to give more than $250 million back to the feds if Tri-Rail officials cut back on service as planned.

Dockery, who is mulling a run for governor, will ride the rails from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

Democratic Sens. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Nan Rich of Weston will join Dockery for part of the ride.