CSX Deal Runs Out Of Steam (Jeb Bush's secret deal with CSX cronies)

TALLAHASSEE - A deal that would pay CSX Transportation $450 million in state funds in exchange for using 61.5 miles of the company's tracks for commuter rail may have crashed in the Legislature this year.
Minutes before the close of business Wednesday, Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, announced that he was removing a controversial provision from a piece of legislation that would lay the groundwork for the project.

The provision, which makes the state promise not to sue CSX in the event of a passenger accident, is key to the deal; eliminating the liability provision derails the whole project.
Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, one of the proposal's most powerful backers, said Wednesday that he didn't think the project, which would bring commuter rail in Central Florida, would come to fruition this year.

"I think the liability issue is dead," he said.

The Tampa Tribune began reporting on the CSX deal more than eight months ago, describing the secrecy that surrounded its planning and former Gov. Jeb Bush's involvement. Tribune reporters continued to follow the story as policymakers began to question the many facets of the deal, including its cost and the liability provisions.
Baker's announcement indicates the stormy feelings in the Senate about the project, which includes paying for improvements to the company's freight train tracks. The state also would have to pay for highway overpasses.

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Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, has led the charge in the Senate against the deal, particularly because the project would lead to more freight traffic through her hometown. She called the liability provision "an incredibly dangerous piece of policy."
"The votes are not there in the Senate for the state to shift liability off of a for-profit company and onto the people of Florida," she said. "They're just not there."
Dockery said she had amassed 27 votes by Wednesday to kill the deal; she needed only 20 to succeed.

Never say never in Tallahassee, however. The 60-day Legislative session comes to a close Friday and Baker, the bill's sponsor, didn't rule out the idea of the liability provision showing up as an amendment in another bill.
"There seems to be no logical or obvious way to revive it, but there are plenty of people burning the midnight oil to find out how," said Jamie Holland of the Florida Justice Association, a group that has lobbied against the bill. "It's going to be a fascinating next two days."

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