State Sens. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Thad Atlman, R-Melbourne, have filed a petition (avaialable below) with the Florida Supreme Court challenging Gov. Rick Scott’s authority to scuttle the state’s proposed high-speed rail line. #
Their lawsuit questions whether Scott can effectively veto a project given funding by the legislature, approved by another governor (his predecessor, Charlie Crist) and supported by the federal Department of Transportation. #
“He is not the CEO of Florida,” Joyner said today. “He’s got to see that government works differently.” #
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is asking for more time, calling on Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to extend the March 4 deadline to allow the lawsuit to proceed, according to the Orlando Sentinel. #
The suit is moving fast. The court has ordered Scott to reply by noon tomorrow, and given Joyner and Altman till 4 p.m. the same day to respond. See the documents here. #
Altman said efforts to gather documents for the suit were complicated by the fact that the Florida high-speed rail website has been partially down since last week. #
He said he and Scott share many of the same principles, but blocking the project doesn’t make business sense. #
“I think sending $2.4 billion to another state would be a colossal mistake,” he said. #
