WrongTrack Blog

Internet Site Gave Lakeland Plenty

By ROSEMARY GOUDREAU
Op-Ed, printed in the Lakeland Ledger, Friday, April 10, 2009

The Palm Beach Post and The St. Petersburg Times are reporting tonight that someone mysteriously slipped language into the Senate budget plan to allow FDOT to close the deal with CSX railroad.

“The language was not included in the budget package vetted by the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee but wound up in its budget anyway,” says the blog post by Dara Kim of the Palm Beach Post.

'This money was railroaded out of the state’s general revenue fund four years ago.”
Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston

“Subsidizing a private railroad corporation on the backs of our motorists and those desperately seeking jobs is unconscionable.”
Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee

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In the Florida Senate, Democrats are proving to be the party that stands against big spending and government giveaways.

This from today's Orlando Sentinel blog:

The Tampa Tribune editorialized against the CSX deal again on Sunday, saying that "the idea of spending hundreds of millions to benefit a for-profit railroad when the state faces a budget deficit that means budget cuts for education and social programs is outrageous."

"Moreover, CSX officials told the Dade City Commission last month that regardless of what happens with SunRail, they will build the hub and add trains to the north-south freight line that runs through the spine of the state. So why should we pay for it?"

The Lakeland Ledger wrote a smart editorial Sunday that brought together two key points.

First, the GAO report that came out two weeks ago clearly shows that there is no indrustry standard for indemnifying freight railroads that use state-owned tracks run by commuter-rail systems. Even when the freight lines maintain ownership and lease the tracks, there is no "industry standard."

By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
April 3, 2009

The SunRail commuter train proposed for Central Florida will not get any help from Sen. Gary Siplin, D- Orlando.

Dismissing the DeLand-to-Poinciana line as a "choo-choo train," Siplin told the Orlando Sentinel he cannot support the $1.2 billion project when schools are being closed and teachers laid off.

"Until we can get education funded, I am going to be fighting for that," Siplin said.

Dockery said her most recent headcount showed 25 senators against the deal, 11 in favor and four on the fence. “It’s not looking very good for them,” Dockery said. -- Lakeland Ledger

By Joe Follick
Lakeland Ledger

Published: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 2:08 p.m.

Saying she is just one senator taking on a battalion of lobbyists, Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, spoke to the Senate Democratic Caucus for nearly an hour over lunch on Tuesday.

By Bill Thompson
Staff writer

Published Monday, March 30, 2009

Seven years ago, a speeding northbound Amtrak passenger train derailed in Putnam County, killing four people and injuring more than 140 of the nearly 500 riders on board.

Investigators determined the April 2002 accident was caused by shoddy maintenance and improper stabilization of a section of the tracks, owned by CSX Transportation.

"Some of these agreements make no exception for cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct ... This is an unacceptable practice." -- U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. and head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

By LINDSAY PETERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 30, 2009

A U.S. General Accounting Office report raises questions about the type of liability agreement the state wants to sign with CSX Transportation in the Central Florida commuter rail project.