Florida, others fighting for rail grants

Florida lawmakers invested in commuter rail last week, believing the support would help the state win a slice of federal stimulus money set aside for rail projects. But the competition is stiff.

Eight Midwestern states — including Illinois, home to President Barack Obama and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood — are bidding for the same federal rail money. California alone is seeking $4.7 billion for a bullet train from Sacramento to San Diego.

In all, nearly 40 states and Washington, D.C., have sent in applications for rail money totaling nearly $60 billion — with only $8 billion to go around.

As LaHood put it this week, “applications have poured in from all corners of the country.”

Florida is seeking $2.5 billion to build a high-speed rail from Tampa to Orlando and then to Miami. Despite the competition, the state seems likely to secure at least part of the money, transportation analysts and state officials say.

Sen. Bill Nelson, who said he has spoken to Obama about Florida’s bid for the money, said he is “optimistic.”

And analysts note that proposals in Congress promise billions of dollars more for high-speed rail projects even after the stimulus dollars are awarded, likely in January.

Obama proposed to spend $1 billion a year on a high-speed rail grant program in his 2010 budget. The Senate topped him at $1.2 billion — and the House approved $4 billion. The chambers are expected to compromise on $2.5 billion.

The federal interest in a nationwide high-speed rail network has touched off a feeding frenzy among interests vying for the money. A recent study by the Center for Public Integrity found the number of high-speed rail lobbyists had tripled from 2008.

Elected lobbyists

Florida, like other states, is using elected officials to make its case, with Gov. Charlie Crist, Sen. George LeMieux, Sen. Bill Nelson and the state’s House delegation appealing in person to LaHood. Crist wrote to LaHood Thursday, telling him the Legislature’s vote “resoundingly demonstrates Florida’s support for passenger rail transportation.”

Orlando Rep. John Mica, the top Republican on the House Transportation Committee, acknowledged he’s spent a lot of time trying to influence LaHood, a one-time Republican member of the committee

“He said to me, ‘Mica, what do you want for Christmas?’ ’’ Mica recalled. “I told him high-speed rail, and he said, ‘We’re ready, we’re waiting on you; you guys have to finish the job.”

The state boosted its odds of landing stimulus dollars with the Legislature’s vote Tuesday, analysts said, but maybe not the full sum.

“Without it, they had very little chance,” said Yoav Hagler, an associate planner with America 2050, a national planning initiative monitoring the high-speed rail application process. “With that vote, it vaults them right into the mix, maybe up toward the top of the list.”