Florida House of Representatives

House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz

District 62 July 18, 2018

DISTRICT OFFICE:
2221 North Himes Avenue
Suite B Dear Governor Rick Scott:
Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: (813) 673-4673
Fax: (813) 673-4675 Recently, news reports have come to light highlighting an alarming and
worrisome situation regarding the state’s Sunpass electronic tolling system.
CAPITOL OFFICE: According to the Miami Herald, Sunpass has been unable to process tolls since
316 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street June 1, creating a backlog of millions of dollars in payments and completely
Tallahassee, FL 32399 disabling the state’s toll-by-plate system.
(850) 717-5062

For the millions of Floridians who rely on toll roads to travel to work and for
the tourists who power our economy, this has created a potentially perilous
COMMITTEES: situation in which thousands of dollars could be charged on one bill once the
system does come back on line.
Appropriations Committee
I am also extremely concerned by the lack of transparency that occurred in the
awarding of a $287 million contract to a vendor, Conduent State and Local
Tourism and Gaming Solutions, with a long history of issues in other states that are similar to the
Control Subcommittee issues now befalling Florida taxpayers.

In at least seven other states that face this same issue, “Conduent took an
Joint Legislative Budget average of two years to sort through unprocessed charges and get online tolling
Commission working again,” according to the Miami Herald. In the case of one customer in
Texas, this led to a one-time bill of $41,000.

Rather than showing a commitment to transparency throughout this process, the

STAFF:
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) initially tried to downplay any
problems and did not even acknowledge the system was not processing tolls
Erika Flores until contacted by media.
Legislative Aide

Margie Ramirez This is an unacceptable situation.

District Secretary

Email: janet.cruz@myfloridahouse.gov
 Florida House of Representatives
House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz

District 62 I am calling for a full investigation into how Conduent was awarded this
contract, for this contract to be immediately voided, to publicly acknowledge
DISTRICT OFFICE:
2221 North Himes Avenue what steps FDOT are taking to correct the situation and hold Conduent
Suite B accountable, and for the state to suspend payments for those who may have
Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: (813) 673-4673 been affected by the outage.
Fax: (813) 673-4675
I can think of no better use for our billions of dollars in state reserves than to
CAPITOL OFFICE: prevent a potentially ruinous economic situation for our hardworking taxpayers.
316 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399 Floridians deserve full transparency and accountability when it comes to their
(850) 717-5062
state government. It is clear those principles have not been followed in this case.
That must be corrected immediately.

COMMITTEES: I look forward to your prompt response and action on behalf of our citizens.
Appropriations Committee
Sincerely,

Tourism and Gaming

Control Subcommittee

Joint Legislative Budget House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz

Commission
District 62

STAFF:

Erika Flores
Legislative Aide

Margie Ramirez
District Secretary

Email: janet.cruz@myfloridahouse.gov