Gov. Scott Claim on High-Speed Rail is False, PolitiFact Says

Governor Scott's $1 billion number came from a study by the libertarian Reason Foundation. Sharockman says the study is biased and uses some faulty logic to come to that number.

During Governor Rick Scott's recent "charm offensive" in Tampa, he defended his decision to kill high-speed rail in Florida.

The federal government was offering to pay $2.7 billion of the costs -- but Scott told WTSP in Tampa it would cost a lot more.

“You’ve got to put up a billion dollars to finish the project, and you’re going to lose money every year,” Scott said.

So would rail have cost Florida taxpayers a billion dollars? PolitiFact Florida rated Scott's claim "false."

“You look at the history of the project, the amount the state would have to pay was no more than $280 million,” said Aaron Sharockman of PolitiFact Florida.

“And quite frankly, the state was trying to get out of that as well,” he said.

Governor Scott's $1 billion number came from a study by the libertarian Reason Foundation. Sharockman says the study is biased and uses some faulty logic to come to that number.