Fla. Gov. Scott: Calif. high-speed rail estimates explain funding rejection

{mosads}But Scott said Tuesday that reports that the proposed railway would cost $98.5 billion than originally expected showed he was right to put the brakes on the Florida project.  

“The news today out of California that High Speed Rail cost estimates have now tripled to the $100 billion range reinforces that Florida made the right decision earlier this year to protect taxpayers from just this sort of boondoggle,” he said in a written statement. “As I said at the time, high speed rail would be far too costly to taxpayers and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits.”

The money that was rejected by Scott was redirected to 15 other states, including California, and Amtrak.
 
Democrats in Washington and Florida have harshly criticized Scott for rejecting the money. During a recent trip to Florida, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said “only the governor was against it” when he spoke of the Florida project, which would have run between Tampa and Orlando.

Republicans in the House, however, have tried to rescind some of the rail money that was awarded to California.

“Responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars is always important, and now more than ever,” House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) said after he introduced a bill to stop $715 million from going to the project.

“We cannot afford to throw money we don’t have at a project most don’t have confidence in,” McCarthy said. 

For his part, Scott said Tuesday he was “glad Florida is no longer entangled in the high speed spending web.”