President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will announce $8 billion in stimulus funds for the construction of high-speed rails across the country, Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor confirmed in a press release today.

The announcement is expected for tomorrow, a day after the President's State of the Union address, at a town hall event in Tampa, Florida. Given the location, Florida is likely to be granted funds to build a rail line connecting Tampa and Orlando which is expected to create jobs and boost the state's economy, according to Castor's statement.

President Obama wants to increase the pace of recovery, Castor stated.

The funding will be given to 13 major corridors as part of the $787 billion recovery act. In addition to those corridors several awards in smaller proportions will go to improve existing rail lines, overall giving funds to 31 states, a White House official said, according to the Associated Press.

Florida applied for a $2.6 billion in stimulus funds to build the rail line and to help with its application it hired HNTB Corp., a planning, design and construction management firm, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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