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| Editorial urges caution on Fla. rail plan | |
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| Topic Started: April 3 2009, 02:20 PM (59 Views) | |
| Gandalf | April 3 2009, 02:20 PM Post #1 |
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Head Moderator, Computer Tech
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(The following editorial, "SunRail Project: Put Budget Priorities Right," appeared in the Lakeland, Fla., Ledger April 2, 2009.) In the past few years, we've taken state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, to task many a time. A jury convicted him in 2006 of grand theft of $5,000 or more (a third-degree felony) for using state employees to help in his re-election campaign. Because the then-Senate president refused to take action to remove him from office until his appeals were exhausted, he could vote on Senate bills - but could not vote in primary or general elections because his civil rights had been taken away. In late 2007, the Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed his conviction. The most notable piece of legislation he has sponsored has been a bill to ban school kids from wearing pants so low that underwear is visible. He has worked for more than three years to pass it. But, the other day, Siplin finally tackled a controversial issue. That issue involves his home district, and the stand he took was not the same as less-timid legislators have taken. For that he deserves credit. He finally said what many other legislators should have been saying a long time ago: The deal between the state and CSX Corp. that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars to CSX to help advance a commuter-rail project, called SunRail, for the greater Orlando area is bad for the state, particularly in this recession. Siplin, who had spoken favorably of the arrangement, now realizes it is too costly in an economy that has turned too bleak. In a committee hearing about three weeks ago, Siplin provided one of the three votes against advancing a bill in support of the project. The bill still passed the committee 6-3. Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, was also among the three votes in opposition. She has been the driving force in uncovering the many things wrong with this legislation. Those many wrong things began with the secrecy under which the CSX deal was developed during the closing years of the Jeb Bush administration. They continued with the secrecy agreements that dozens of state employees had to sign while the plan moved forward. And they continue in the current bill, which requires Florida taxpayers to pay all damages on the CSX-SunRail lines - even if CSX is solely responsible for the damages. Siplin said that, before embarking on suchan expensive proposition in this economy, Florida should be sure that "education is adequately funded first." He added: "The moms and dads are complaining about the education system. I can't look a teacher or parent in the eye, and say I gave money to SunRail without paying for teachers and textbooks." Last week, he again said education is themore important issue when he told an Orlando radio station: "Education is a priority, not onlyin Florida, but around the country. I'm not going to support any other expenditures unless wehave taken care of education, our teacher pay raises, not closing down any schools." Four schools in his district are set to close in the coming school year. SunRail supporters reply that the money in the Florida Department of Transportation budget can only be spent on transportation, and not transferred to education - even if the deal isn't approved - because it is in a trust fund. The trouble with that argument is that it is pure heifer dust - as demonstrated by the Legislature's past raid on the Lawton Chiles' Endowment Fund, a trust established using money from a 1997settlement with big tobacco. The money is designated for funding elderly and children's health-care programs and to promote anti-tobacco education. Nonetheless, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature authorized a $700 million raid on the fund in order to help balance the state budget. The Chiles family has threatened to sue if the state takes the money on June 1 as planned. So the money to pay for SunRail that is now "protected" in the DOT account is different from the Chiles' trust money - how? One can't be used for anything but transportation, but the other can be diverted from projects providing help to children and the elderly - because why? If Siplin ever doubts that his stand against an expensive program to help CSX move freight is wrong, let him ponder on the answers to those two questions. April 2, 2009 |
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3:25 AM Jul 11