Report: Fla. Gov. Rick Scott considered accepting Obama administration rail money

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been one of the most vocal critics of President Obama’s high-speed rail proposals, but according to a report released Thursday, he would have accepted money for a proposed railway if the administration had given his state money for dredging ports.

The revelation came in a profile of Scott’s first year in office by Fortune magazine. Scott, who was against the proposed railway as a candidate, attempted to convince transportation officials in the Obama administration to agree to a deal that would have seen Scott accept $2.4 billion for a rail line between Tampa and Orlando in exchange for money to dredge ports in Jacksonville and Miami.

“Though he was skeptical of the project's merits, Scott had been trying to cut a deal with the Obama administration to improve the state's position,” the magazine reported. “He believed the White House badly wanted him to accept the funding to build what they hoped would become a model for a nation-spanning system of high-speed rail.

" 'You want this project done,' " the magazine reported Scott said, " 'I can tell you what I'm interested in. If you want to make it interesting to me, make it interesting to me.' Scott says that since [Transportation Secretary Ray] LaHood refused to negotiate, his original misgivings carried the day.”

Scott was one of three Republican governors elected in the Tea Party wave elections of 2010 to reject money from the Obama administration, which included $8 billion in the 2009 economic stimulus package for the president’s vision of a nationwide network of high-speed rails.

Since the rejection, Scott has seized on reports about a similar rail proposal in California, which has reportedly had its projected cost triple.

“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 statement when reports surfaced that the California railway would cost $98 billion instead of $33 billion.

"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 Department of Transportation redirected the money that was rejected by Florida to 15 other states, including California.

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