Hank Fishkind February 22 - Can Florida's High Speed Rail Plan Survive?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson

February 8, 2011 | WMFE - State and local officials are working to put together a deal to save Florida's planned high speed rail line. The latest effort, by Democratic U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor and Corrine Brown, would create a new government entity that could accept federal money to proceed with the rail project. Last week, Gov. Rick Scott rejected a $2.4 billion federal grant to build the first leg of high speed rail line planned to connect Orlando and Tampa. The governor predicted that cost overruns would put Florida taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars. 90.7's Tom Parkinson spoke with economic analyst Hank Fishkind. He says contracts for the line's construction and operation would have been structured so that taxpayers would not have been exposed to financial risk.