LaHood disputes report Florida governor was willing to make a deal for rail money

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is denying reports that Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) sought to make a deal with the Obama administration in which he would accept high-speed rail money if the administration had given his state money for dredging ports.

LaHood was in Florida Friday for a press conference to tout a highway project that is being partially paid for with money from the 2009 economic stimulus. While he was there, the Tampa Bay Times reported he shot down the report about Scott, which was contained in a profile of Scott’s first year in office by Fortune magazine.

"We just gave a grant to Jacksonville," the paper reported LaHood said when asked about the Scott report.

"It doesn't sound like if we gave them a TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant, that quite comports with what the governor said in the article," LaHood continued. "As a matter of fact, it doesn't comport at all. It's not accurate."

Fortune reported earlier this month that Scott, who has been one of the most vocal critics of President Obama’s high-speed rail proposals, would have agreed to accept $2.4 billion for a rail line between Tampa and Orlando in exchange for money to dredge ports in Jacksonville and Miami.

" 'You want this project done,' " the magazine reported Scott said to transportation officials in the Obama administration.

" 'I can tell you what I'm interested in,' " he continued. " 'If you want to make it interesting to me, make it interesting to me.' "

Instead of consummating such a deal, Scott became the third newly elected Republican governor to reject rail money from Obama administration in February of last year.

The Obama administration included $8 billion in the 2009 economic stimulus package for the president’s vision of a nationwide network of high-speed railways.

But Scott has seized on reports about a similar rail proposal in California, which has reportedly had its projected cost triple, since the rejection to make the case that the railways would be too expensive to build.

"As I said at the time [of the Florida rejection], high-speed rail would be far too costly to taxpayers and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits," Scott said in a statement when reports surfaced that the California railway would cost $98 billion instead of $33 billion.