FL: Leader says Florida House will fund Tri-Rail; Senate outlook uncertain

Speaker Daniel Perez said Monday the Florida House of Representatives would restore state funding seen as essential to keep the Tri-Rail commuter rail system operating in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

But, Perez cautioned, he isn’t sure the money will make it in the final state budget.

He and other state legislators are returning to Tallahassee for a special session on the state budget beginning Tuesday.

Perez, a Miami Republican, was asked about the issue at a Forum Club of the Palm Beaches luncheon: “Are you going to fund Tri-Rail?”

“The House is going to do their part. And the House is going to fund the Tri-Rail,” Perez said.

But, the final outcome isn’t up to him, and he added a dose of uncertainty.

“I don’t know if the Senate is going to want to reciprocate that. So the real question is going to go to the senators, which I advise all of you to call. I don’t know if the Senate will want to fund the Tri-Rail or not. The House will fund the Tri-Rail.”

Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman, who represents Palm Beach County, said the uncertainty raised by Perez is cause for concern.

“I was thinking that we were in better shape, but he scared me a little today with what he said,” Berman said, adding that she was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the ultimate outcome.

The senator was in the audience for Perez’s speech and he began his answer by acknowledging her presence. “Berman, you’re not gonna like this one,” he said.

Berman said she has been working with Senate Appropriations Chair Ed Hooper, a Republican from Pinellas and Pasco counties on the Gulf Coast, to make the case for Tri-Rail funding. She said she would continue to work with Hooper and also press the case with Senate President Ben Albritton “to make sure that Tri-Rail is still on everybody’s radar.”

Tri-Rail has support from lawmakers in both parties from the three South Florida counties. “Those of us from the three counties are going to continue to advocate to make sure that it is in the Senate budget,” Berman said.

In the current state budget year, which began July 1, 2025, the state thrust the rail operation into financial uncertainty by slashing millions from its annual contribution to the rail system.

Instead of contributing a statutory minimum of $42.1 million — and as much as $62 million annually as it has in the past — the state provided $15 million.

The rail line tapped reserves to prop up its $150 million budget, which includes $4 million a year from each of the three counties and money from fares paid by riders.

Tri-Rail executives have said if the state money isn’t replaced, Tri-Rail would have to halt operations by July 2027. The system served more than 4.5 million passengers last year, the agency has said.

Tri-Rail, operated by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, was founded in 1989 by the state as a traffic relief valve while Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike were being widened. It operates mainly west of Interstate 95.

This article includes information from Sun Sentinel archives.

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