State legislature provide $50 million for Florida ports

State legislature provide $50 million for Florida ports    The Florida Legislature approved $50 million for state port improvement project that could begin as soon as July, as the 2007 state legislative session came to a close Friday.
   The state funding can be matched at the local level, meaning the legislative action will lead to some $100 million in port improvements.
   At the same time, the money allocated by this year's legislature falls short of the $220 million the Florida ports were seeking.
   Port interests had also worked to have a bond issue refinanced to inject another $60 million in state-backed funds, which could have led to another $120 million in projects with local participation.
   The legislature ended up providing the $60 million through a one-time general fund allocation for port improvements. The bond refinancing package passed the Senate earlier, but the final version of a similar bill voted on in the House Friday called for no refinancing until a task force can review the need for port improvements and make recommendations to next year's legislature.
   'We didn't get everything we tried for, but in no way should that overshadow the $100 million in new projects that will get funded this year,' Nancy Liefkauf, executive vice president of the Florida Ports Council, told the Florida Caribbean Connection.