QuoteTALLAHASSEE â€" A couple of pro-rail groups are delivering Gov. Rick Scott 2,700 signatures today from Floridians "frustrated by the governor's misinformed decision" to reject $2.4 billion for the Tampa-to-Orlando bullet train.
The Florida Public Interest Research Group and Florida Conservation Alliance held a conference call with reporters this morning, and plan to walk the signatures gathered over the last several days to Scott's Capitol office before noon.
The move comes a few hours before the Florida Supreme Court is slated to hear the emergency petition brought by Sens. Thad Altman and Arthenia Joyner asserting that Scott overstepped his authority by scuttling the project approved by lawmakers in 2009.
"Citizens and business leaders in Florida want Governor Rick Scott to know that high-speed rail is a smart investment that will create jobs, help tourism, and reduce pollution," the groups say.
"Floridians are frustrated by the governor's misinformed decision and want their voices heard."
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In the conference call, Patrick Gittard with PIRG called a completed Tampa-Orlando-Miami high-speed rail system the "crown jewel" for public transit backers, and again questioned the governor's use of the libertarian think-tank Reason Foundation's report on rail as the justification for rejecting the project.
Scott has said he has seen no plan that would completely shield Florida taxpayers from absorbing the cost overruns of the project in future years, although federal transportation officials have said there wouldn't be any state liability for the rail system.
Florida Conservation Alliance organizer Melissa Meehan Baldwin said roughly 2,000 signatures had been received in the last 24 hours and the fully printed petition "should be about 50 feet long."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/state/os-high-speed-oral-arguments-20110303,0,1532659.story
NEVER has Florida been sooooooo UNITED for TRANSIT!!!!!!!
Inadvertently, due to Scott's lack of reason becoming so apparent, transit has become a focal point for many Floridians who heretofore paid little attention to Public Transit!!!!
Yay, for helping our cause Scotty!!!!
They should have sent them to the supreme court. They are wasting their time with Scott. This HSR battle isn't about the general public's needs or logic. This is strictly political ideology at play and we're all being held hostage.
Quote from: thelakelander on March 03, 2011, 12:13:38 PM
They should have sent them to the supreme court. They are wasting their time with Scott. This HSR battle isn't about the general public's needs or logic. This is strictly political ideology at play and we're all being held hostage.
Yeah, Scott submitted to the court a letter from flip-flpper Haridopoulis and others who agree with him for political ideology.
So deinitely the court should hear from the PEOPLE too.
Trying to convince Scott is impossible, as is clear from Scott now even avoiding the media:
QuoteScott's lawyer criticizes the senators as bitter and says, "Governor Scott believes he is responsible to the taxpayers of Florida... This is a decision, by virtue of his election and his constitutional authority, that the governor is entitled to make." He says a decision by the judicial branch to in here would be "unwise and unworkable".
But the state senators say stepping in at this point is exactly why the judicial branch exists. The Florida Constitution gives the Legislature power over the state's money. The Legislature passed a law accepting the federal high speed rail funds in 2009.
That law specifically took the governor out of the process by creating a new high speed rail enterprise that the governor does not directly manage. "The pocketbook issues of the people is purely withing the province of the Florida Legislature. [Gov. Scott] does not have that authority. We appropriated the money, and consequently it should be spent," said Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa), who is suing Scott along with Sen. Thad Altman (R-Melbourne).
10 News doesn't have a quote from the governor because he has avoided talking about this issue with reporters for several days now. The state Supreme Court is expected to make a decision Friday.
It does have the power to order the governor to obey the existing law and accept the federal money.
Also Thursday, the mayors of cities along the planned high speed rail route will be holding a joint news conference.
That's set for noon in Lakeland. Rail supporters have to come up with a workable plan to build a high speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando. If that's not in place by Friday, the U.S. government will hand $2.4 billion currently set aside for Florida to another state.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=178451&catid=8
More support for the Court in finding Scott wrong:
QuoteHundreds of State Businesses Support Mayors' Response to Florida Governor on High Speed Rail0 0 0
Joint High Speed Rail Statement from Tampa Bay Partnership, Central Florida Partnership and Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
TAMPA BAY, Fla. March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With less than one day remaining to reach an agreement on High Speed Rail, the Governor and the Mayors supporting the project have reached an impasse. Today, the Mayors of Tampa, Orlando, Lakeland and Miami sent a letter to the Governor addressing the remaining concerns he expressed in a meeting Monday evening.
Read the letter from the Mayors of Tampa, Orlando, Lakeland and Miami to Governor Rick Scott
The Tampa Bay Partnership, Central Florida Partnership, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the business communities they represent support this solution that spells out unequivocally that the Orlando to Tampa High Speed Rail line can be built with full protection for Florida taxpayers.
The letter outlines the structure devised to privatize the project and provides an explicit response to each concern raised by the Governor. The federal grant of $2.4 billion dollars will pay for 90% of the project. Private contractors have expressed their willingness to pay the rest. All contracts would be handled by an entity formed by the Mayors that would protect the state from liability.
The joint statement from the Tampa Bay Partnership, Central Florida Partnership and Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce says in part, "Any worthwhile investment has some risk, but the Mayors have managed to eliminate all reasonable and foreseeable risks, with the cooperation and approval of the U.S. Department of Transportation. If we refuse to move forward based on the possibility of remote and speculative risks, then we will cease to invest in our future."
"This project presents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a high-impact project that will help transform our economy. It will create a link among great medical and technology centers in Orlando and Tampa, world-famous tourist attractions, and globally competitive airports and seaports, and it will be the start of a state-wide system linking Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville. As the first bullet train in the United States, it will lay the foundation for a whole new industry for Florida, attracting businesses, tens of thousands of jobs, innovation, and talent to our State."
The Tampa Bay Partnership, Central Florida Partnership and Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce also strongly support construction of a statewide high speed rail system that will, in time, connect to an interstate high speed rail system. Tampa to Orlando is only the first leg. The Orlando to Miami corridor will be the critical second leg of the statewide system.
The Mayors' letter concludes "If we do not go forward with this project, this decision will not contribute one bit to reducing the federal deficit or lowering the federal taxes Floridians pay. Instead, and quite ironically, we will simply be forced to stand by and watch the federal dollars Floridians have paid be diverted to other states to help build their high speed rail systems, putting Florida at an increasing competitive disadvantage."
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hundreds-of-state-businesses-support-mayors-response-to-florida-governor-on-high-speed-rail-117325573.html