U.S. Representative Sandy Adams | Representing the 24th District of Florida

Transportation

Florida's 24th District is one of the fastest growing regions in the state, stretching from the Orlando suburbs, over to the Space Coast, and up to Daytona Beach.  With the heavily traveled I-4 corridor running through the district, there is a real need for discussions about the future of transportation needs in the region.

One of the proposed solutions is to construct a high-speed railroad from Tampa to Orlando.  As you are aware, the issue of high-speed rail funding and construction is primarily a state issue.  While the Obama Administration offered more than two billion of your taxpayer dollars to the State of Florida to start construction on the project, the decision about whether or not to accept the funds and implement the program was made by Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature. 

The Governor recently announced he will not accept the funds for high-speed rail that were offered by the federal government.  On Friday, March 4th the Supreme Court of Florida ruled Governor Scott does have the authority to refuse the money and the Department of Transportation will reallocate the funds to another state.  The Governor’s decision sends a strong message to Washington, D.C. that our State is concerned with runaway spending and projects we just can’t afford. 

With the country buried under $14 trillion of debt, now is not the time to propose new government spending – now is the time to cut up the credit card. While a high-speed rail project funded by the private sector might be a nice thing to have for the region, given the state of our economy we should not be spending limited taxpayer dollars on government funded projects we just cannot afford.

I look forward to the discussion of how the State and the federal government can work together to maintain our transportation infrastructure - without adding on billions more in debt to our children and grandchildren.