Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a transportation bill that clears the way for Brightline to expand, and the abortion ballot question could tip the balance of power in Washington.

DeSantis signs bill that clears the way for high-speed rail to Tampa

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new bill into law today in Polk County that does a lot of different things for transportation.

He says this bill uses budget surplus to get traffic plans finished faster.

One big thing in the bill is that it could help make a high-speed rail route between Tampa and Orlando actually happen. 

While nothing is official, an extension of Brightline along the I-4 corridor has been under consideration for years.

“That is not something that has been done obviously, in terms of Tampa to Orlando, but I think they’re making it so that it could be done. We’ve basically reserved the space for rail in the future with as part of planning,” DeSantis said at the bill’s signing.

Now this doesn’t use state money to build that track between Tampa and Orlando, but the governor says the space to build that is available. 

Abortion ballot question could impact national balance of power

With the abortion and marijuana ballot initiatives approved, as well as a six-week abortion ban about to go into effect, political analysts say there’s potential for high voter turnout this November.

Republicans in Florida have nearly 900,000 more registered voters than Democrats, but there are also more than 3.5 million registered voters with no party affiliation.

Some political analysts believe the Florida Supreme Court’s recent rulings on abortion may fire up people to vote who otherwise would have been less motivated.

“We know history. Recent history suggests that abortion, in particular, makes people turn out to vote, particularly in places where we’ve all of a sudden not expected to see huge swaths of of more Democratic leaning voters coming out,” George Washington University Professor Casey Burgat said.

Burgat said while the ballot initiative on abortion may not be enough to turn the state blue in terms of the presidential election, some of the Congressional races could be neck-and-neck.

Currently, Democrats control the Senate, and Republicans narrowly control the House, making these races high-stakes when it comes to the balance of power.

“I think a lot of the House District races will be closer than expected. But, then the Florida Senate race, you never know, particularly with these types of candidates, right? They have pretty good name recognition. They have a history within the state,” Burgat said.

Republican Sen. Rick Scott is running for re-election, and his top Democratic challenger, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, has called the Florida Supreme Court decisions a “game changer” in the race. She’s blasted Scott for his support of the 6-week abortion ban.

“Rick Scott said that he would sign this ban. A ban with hardly any exceptions if he was still governor,” Mucarsel-Powell said.

Burgat says even in some Republican led states, when abortion is put to voters, they have typically favored abortion rights over bans.

“Almost across the board, they have gone [for] pro-choice type of policies, or that when bans have taken effect or certain legislation was on the table within those respective states,” Burgat said.

Former President Donald Trump, who’s called the 6-week abortion ban signed by DeSantis a “terrible mistake” says he will have a statement on abortion next week.