Letter to Mark Meadows, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations - Feds are "Very Concerned" About Brightline Incidents

Letter

Dear Chairman Meadows:

Despite their dishonest claims to the contrary, Brightline has repeatedly pursued public, taxpayer-funded financing. Brightline is a passenger rail system that currently runs in Florida from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. The company is planning to expand from Miami to Orlando. Now, Brightline is continuing their deceptive business practices, seeking public financing for this expansion by claiming that their passenger rail train is actually a "highway" because they fail to qualify for public financing under the statutory definition of high-speed rail.

Given our shared interest in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, I request a hearing in the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations to investigate the allocation of Private Activity Bonds to Brightline.

By way of background, in 2005 Congress created a $15 billion pool of Private Activity Bonds (22 U.S.C 142(m)) for infrastructure projects. On December 20, 2017 the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) allocated $1.15 billion to Brightline's passenger rail project under the guise that it is a "highway" under 142(m). This interpretation is fraudulent, indicative of Brightline's ongoing efforts to mislead the public and a perfect example of the kind of abuse that we were sent to Congress to eliminate. By any collective understanding of the definition, Brightline is a passenger rail train.

I am requesting that your subcommittee investigate this issue to determine if this allocation of taxpayer money violated federal law and the intent of Congress when enacting this legislation.

Sincerely,

Brian J. Mast

Member of Congress

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