Special Session for High Speed & Commuter Rail?

A special lawmaking session over high-speed and commuter rail inched closer Monday as legislative leaders and the governor said they were ready to tap surplus money discovered in the transportation budget rather than raise taxes on rental cars.

The surplus money -- about $76 million for the current and next budget years -- should be enough to help fill a hole in South Florida's Tri-Rail system.

Also Monday, opposition to Central Florida's SunRail project started to thaw in the Florida Senate, where the transit system could now be one vote shy of winning passage, according to a Herald/Times vote count.

Federal transportation officials have told Florida officials that the state needs to do a better job supporting Tri-Rail and SunRail to have a better chance at winning up to $2.5 billion in federal money for a high-speed rail project.

The federal government has been besieged with requests from various states for high-speed rail money. And U.S. Department of Transportation spokespeople said Florida's support for the commuter rail systems are just a "factor'' in awarding the grant, which is not "contingent'' on Tri-Rail and SunRail.

The House balked at a proposal to raise rental car surcharges by $2. Last week, state economists bailed the Legislature out of its financing problem by estimating that the state would take in more fuel tax money than had been anticipated: $19 million more this budget year and $57 million next year.

Behind the scenes, rail proponents almost have a guaranteed 20 votes in favor of SunRail in the Senate. That's up from 16 votes last spring. But it's one vote shy of securing passage in the 40-member chamber.

Many lawmakers are concerned with the longterm cost of SunRail -- up to $1.2 billion -- as well as the fact that the owner of the rail line, CSX, wanted the state to completely indemnify it in the case of an accident.

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