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August 14, 2002
Contacts:
Dr. Tim Lynch, 850-644-7357, lynch@cefa.fsu.edu
C.C. Dockery, 863-665-6252, Dockerydoc@aol.com
(Lakeland, FL) - An economic impact study to be released tomorrow at the
Floridians For Better Transportation conference at The Mission Inn in
Howey-In-The-Hills says billions of dollars in economic activity will be
lost if the high speed rail constitutional amendment were to be
repealed.
The study, conducted by Dr. Tim Lynch,
Director, Center for Economic
Analysis, Florida State University, predicts, "The loss would amount to
$11.7 billion in wages and salaries, $34.1 billion in additional
economic activities and a $5.7 billion loss of other benefits." Lynch
added that 41,267 jobs would be lost. The economic impact study covers
several years.
The analysis, funded by Florida
Transportation Association, Inc., was
commissioned in response to a bill passed in the 2002 legislative
session.
The law now, "requires the (State)
Revenue Estimating Conference members
to analyze and produce a fiscal impact statement for any "…proposed
constitutional revisions or amendment…"
A political action committee titled
"Derail the Bullet Train" has filed
a petition amendment with the Division of Elections which would repeal
Article X, Section 19 of the Florida Constitution which requires the
state to build a high speed ground transportation system.
Dr. Lynch says, "The restudy and
summary of Florida high speed rail
proposals examined in this report provides an objective baseline
overview and survey of the range of the magnitude of the nominal and net
present value of benefits and costs across the most recent studies
completed on corridors in Florida. This summary should serve as a
baseline for the Revenue Estimating Conference for any assessment of the
potential losses of private and public economic benefit citizens and
businesses and the State of Florida would expect to sustain if the
mandate expressed in Article X, Section 19 of the Florida Constitution,
building a high speed rail system, is repealed."
Dr. Lynch's recommended language for the
ballot summary is, "If Article
X, Section 19, of the Constitution is repealed, the loss of economic
benefits by private sector businesses, the public and State of Florida
will include 41,267 jobs, $11.7 billion in wages and salaries and $34.1
billion in additional economic activity and a $5.7 billion loss of other
benefits."
The study also includes a section on
"Public Transportation Financing
And Subsidies By Mode In The United States."
The full text of Dr. Lynch's work, the
Florida High Speed Ground
Transportation Economic Benefit and Cost Impact Restudy, may be obtained
by emailing Dr. Lynch at lynch@cefa.fsu.edu.
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