Court Says Scott Can Reject Federal Rail Money
Friday, March 4, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson

March 4, 2011 | WMFE - The Florida Supreme Court has upheld Gov. Rick Scott's authority to kill the proposed Orlando to Tampa high-speed rail line. Two state senators, Democrat Arthenia Joyner of Tampa and Thad Altman, a Republican from Viera sued Scott. They argued that he had overstepped his authority and violated Florida's constitution by rejecting the federal funding. But the state's high court disagreed. The justices said there were no grounds to compel Scott to accept the federal money.

The governor had insisted that the rail project would lose money and that state taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $3 billion dollars in cost overruns. 

Immediately following the court’s decision, Gov. Scott contacted U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and told him that Florida will focus on other infrastructure projects instead.
LaHood said the money would be given to other states.

California, Washington and Illinois are among several states that have expressed interest in accepting the federal money.                                                            

Governor Scott immediately unveiled a $77 million dollar proposal to dredge the Port of Miami to accommodate larger ships expected to be traveling through the expanded Panama Canal.
Scott says the port expansion project will create 30,000 jobs.