The CSX deal which was rammed through the Florida legisture under Jeb.....MAY be dead

[madfloridian]

over the issue of liability. But one never knows in Florida. The issue giving turning CSX liability over to the state of Florida already passed the House, but now the Senate is wavering.

This would give Orlando passenger rail, but would damage two other cities. Lakeland would be divided in half by lengthy freight trains. The worst part is that it would divide most of the city from the one hospital, a huge one. There is no similar facility on the other side of town. Waits are already bad as trains cut the city in half, but it would be dangerous if the new legislation goes through. There have already been 45 minutes waits to get across town if trains slow down or stall.

CSX Deal Derails on Liability Issue

TALLAHASSEE | After years of secretive negotiations that led to months of desperate battle, the $641 million deal to bring passenger rail service to greater Orlando may have suffered a disabling shot Thursday.

Facing a deadline of today, lawmakers were unable to agree on CSX Transportation's demand for legal protections. Even the most passionate supporters said Thursday that it seemed likely lawmakers would end their annual meeting today with new uncertainty over the 61.5-mile rail line scheduled to begin service in 2010.

But CSX and Florida Department of Transportation officials have maintained for months that the complicated deal they agreed to last year would not proceed unless lawmakers approved a "no fault" liability protection that would make the company and the state responsible for their own equipment, employees and passengers regardless of who caused an accident.

The CSX liability exemption was first disclosed by The Ledger in January. "CSX has said that without the liability (protection) they're not going forward," said Dockery. "Theoretically if they really want that then the deal would be off."

This was a deal brokered in the state legislature in secret in 2005, and Jeb Bush was said to have been heavily involved. He got very angry when confronted about it recently.

Jeb Bush said angrily: "CSX was no secret deal ... I resent the implication”

Bush, in Lakeland as a speaker for two Southeastern University events, was asked after his afternoon speech if he had time to answer questions.

He said he wouldn't if the questions were about CSX.

..."“There was no secret deal ... I resent the implication,” Bush said angrily. “I believe a significant number of people in this community support the thousands of jobs it will bring.” -- Polk County News Blog

This deal was done so secretly that most everyone was caught off guard. The major opponents have themselves been Republicans, the few more moderate ones there are here. It was an outrageous deal.

CSX is taking over areas of Central Florida with little or no oversight.

They gave CSX the power to start the project without input from the communities.

WINTER HAVEN - State planning officials have told CSX it can begin building a rail transfer center before planning reviews of the massive project are completed. In a letter sent to CSX this week, the state Department of Community Affairs said it would consider an agreement with the company that would allow CSX to begin construction on the Winter Haven project while a comprehensive planning review known as a development of regional impact is under way."

One of the major Republicans wrote an op ed accusing Jeb Bush of being right in the middle of brokering this deal.

Whether it is the good fortune of having your buddy Gov. Jeb Bush honchoing a deal for you or whether CSX CEO Michael Ward is simply a good negotiator, it pays handsome dividends.

In November 2004, CSX executives made a half-billion-dollar pitch to Bush's Florida Department of Transportation. That pitch is now being played out in an impending agreement to pay CSX $491 million of taxpayers' money to move some of its freight trains off what they call the A Line, running down the east central part of Florida to Orlando over to the S Line, running down through west central Florida: Gainesville, Ocala, Plant City and Lakeland. The terminus is Winter Haven, where CSX wants to build a huge intermodal logistics center.

There is only one name for this kind of deal...corporate welfare. It was done in secret. I hope it is over.

Now we all still wait with bated breath to see what else was done under Jeb's tenure....secretly.

[madfloridian]

1. Today is the day for the vote....fingers crossed.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/ucf/orl-csx0208may02,0,2457175.story

"TALLAHASSEE - Trial lawyers, labor unions and a handful of legislators were prepared to run out the clock today and kill Central Florida's plans to build a commuter-rail system.

Confronting the frantic end of the 60-day lawmaking session tonight, Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R- Winter Garden, conceded there was only a slim chance he could persuade his chamber to pass the legal protections that CSX Corp. has demanded before selling its 61.5 miles of Central Florida rail line.

"I'm pretty well resigned ," said Webster, who placed the chances of passage today at "10 percent or less."

The House earlier this week signed off on the deal. But its chief hurdle has always been the Senate, where trial lawyers and unions, along with critics such as Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, have spent months building a barricade."

[madfloridian]

2. Looks like it did not pass.

Now this can just drop right on to the archives.