Up to $220 million in state port funding hangs in balance

Up to $220 million in state port funding hangs in balance The 2007 prospects for new port financing are hanging in the balance after conflicting votes today out of the Florida Senate and House.
   The Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee unanimously approved an amended bill that would allow the $60 million refinancing of an existing ports bond, which with local port matching funds would lead to $120 million in port improvements beginning this year. The proposal is expected to go before the full Senate as soon as this week.
   However, the same bond-refinancing proposal was voted down 61-50 when it was proposed on the House floor. House leadership recommended appointing a task force to study port funding needs, with a report back to the House by January.
   Nancy Leikauf, Florida Ports Council executive vice president, said she considers ports funding legislation to be fully alive in spite of the House vote. The state's ports could see the groundwork for up to $220 million in new projects between now and the end of the legislative session on May 4, she said.
   In addition to the bond reauthorization, the Senate's broad appropriations bill calls for a one-time, $50 million allocation from the general fund for port improvements. Because local ports can match any state funding, that would generate $100 million in improvements, accounting for the $220 million total.
   'The session ends a week from Friday, and in legislative terms, that is a long time,' she said.
   Port funding has bipartisan backing in the Senate, and seems to have the backing of Gov. Charlie Crist, she said. It also has strong support among House Democrats, who see the bond refinancing as a way to create new jobs.
   Leikauf said there are a number of possibilities for port funding proposals, including another vote in the House and a final resolution in a House-Senate conference committee.
   She scoffed at the House proposal for a task force, noting the state's port infrastructure has been the subject of numerous policy studies in recent years.
   'Quite honestly, a delay for a study is unnecessary,' she said. 'We think it's time to fund our seaports, and have our new governor take this economic engine (ports), and with his agencies, make it a cornerstone of his economic policies for the future.'