Sounds like full speed ahead without much oversight. Just as people are becoming aware that Florida has been taken over by developers...good old orange Charlie wants to accelerate things right along.
From the FLA Politics blog:
Charlie wants to accelerate Florida"Crist wants state agencies to speed up construction projects in hopes it will give the state's lagging economy a boost."
Crist called agency heads together Wednesday before announcing his "Accelerate Florida" plan to pump more money into the economy. He said pushing up projects like highway and new school construction will create jobs immediately.
But there is more to it than just hurrying stuff up. Crist wants to do away with pesky regulatory stuff.
Crist moves to speed up road and school projects.Details of the plan were sketchy. And it was unclear how the governor could speed up some projects where environmental concerns, legal issues or bid disputes had hindered the progress. But the governor said he wanted his agencies to aggressively push the projects ahead, while identifying "burdensome regulation and barriers to job creation."
It's dough waiting to go, says Charlie.
The day before economists are expected to announce a $1 billion-plus hole in the state budget, Gov. Charlie Crist assembled his state agency heads Thursday afternoon and ordered them to do everything they can to accelerate road and school construction projects.
Outlining a plan he calls "Accelerate Florida," Crist said there are $28.6 billion worth of state projects - some dating back a decade - that can be put on a fast track. The projects run the gamut from environmental initiatives to business development, although the bulk of the major spending would be in road and school construction.
"Accelerate Florida will pump billions of dollars into Florida's economy through construction and economic development projects that are already in the hopper," Crist said. "It's dough waiting to go."
Charlie keeps talking about spending all those millions on projects, all badly needed. Meanwhile people are being deprived of simple human kindness in getting health care they need. Medicaid programs being cut to the bone. Teachers being laid off, school funds being cut back until everyone is feeling the pain.
Where is the money coming from in this "Accelerate Florida" plan of Charlie's? I have no idea, unless it is private money. We keep hearing how there is no money available for anything now. But all those billions are ready to go now?
I found myself thinking about the fate of toll roads and bridges like
Alligator Alley and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.TAMPA - Faced with a $2.5 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, Florida leaders are considering selling 50-year leases on some state toll roads and bridges in exchange for large sums of cash from private investors.
In a preliminary study, the Florida's Department of Transportation estimated a 50-year lease on Tampa's Sunshine Skyway Bridge could be worth $1.3 billion if investors were allowed to set tolls at "market rates." The study used the example of the SunPass toll, which would double in the first, fourth and 10th years of the deal, climbing from 75 cents to $5 within a decade on the Skyway.
Florida would follow the lead of other places including Indiana, Chicago and San Francisco, which have made billions from similar deals to sell road leases to private entities. Florida's $8 billion-a-year road construction budget faces challenges such as declining gasoline tax revenue and higher materials costs.
..."Opponents worry Florida drivers could get a raw deal over the long-term because private investors would make big profits from aggressive toll hikes. And they fear privatization could hurt the poor.
......"Take Alligator Alley. For many people, that's the only way to go from east to west Florida and vice versa," said Sen. Mike Fasano, a New Port Richey Republican who is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. "It would be controlled by a private entity that could raise tolls ad nauseam. It could make it unaffordable for people to travel."
Accelerate, deregulate. Charlie Crist, a not so moderate Republican when the VP position is open.
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