With ports in other states gearing up for the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014, Florida ports are trying to keep pace with a little help from the Legislature.
The Florida Ports Investment Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, offers $100 million in tax incentives to make Florida ports competitive in an increasingly competitive national and international marketplace. It passed the House Finance and Tax Council Thursday without any opposition.
Initially created with up to $500 million in incentives, the bill was reduced last week by the House Economic Development Committee while Gov. Charlie Crist was at a press event, patting Ray on the back for his legislation.
This bill is a start, Ray said Thursday, adding that future sessions of the Legislature can continue to lure businesses to Floridas 14 ports.
The Senate version of the bill, being sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, passed the Commerce Committee earlier in the month and passed the Environmental Protection and Conservation Committee Wednesday.
Ray said he considers this a jobs bill. Five hundred and fifty thousand cargo jobs are connected directly or indirectly in the state of Florida, he said.
Noting that 50 percent of goods consumed in Florida come through seaports outside of the state, Ray said, This is an opportunity were missing in the state of Florida.
Ray produced charts showing how goods are shipped into Florida through the ports of Charleston, Savannah, Norfolk and New York, and then move onto the highways and railways, down to the Sunshine State.
Michael Rubin, vice president of the Florida Ports Council, said, This will allow us to build the infrastructure to be able to compete against other states."
With the expansion and wider locks in the canal, shipping and maritime experts argue that cargo vessels from Asia will no longer solely rely on West Coast ports and the intermodal system and will instead opt for the all-water route to the East Coast.
The competition is getting fierce between East Coast states, especially as so many ports will need to be refurbished and even redredged to handle the mega cargo ships able to go through the Panama Canal in 2014.
Earlier in the month, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved the Virginia Port Authoritys plans to expand shipping facilities at Craney Island to accommodate the larger freighters and barges. With this approval in place, Virginia appears poised to become the first state on the East Coast fully prepared to serve the big vessels.
The economic impact of this permit approval goes beyond Craney Island, McDonnell said. This project will generate thousands of jobs and millions more in revenue for the Hampton Roads area and to the state.
The Governors Office estimated that the Craney Island project will eventually lead to 54,000 jobs in Virginia, with more than $1.7 billion in salaries and $155 million in tax revenue.
Alabama is also starting to get ready. On Thursday, Alabama State Port Authority Executive Director Jimmy Lyons said his organization was working on a new turning basin in Mobile Bay, allowing deeper water vessels to dock in Alabamas ports.
Lyons said that Alabama would be ready for the Panama Canal expansion.
Rubin said other states in the region were not far behind Alabama and Virginia, with Georgia and Mississippi also planning to offer tax incentives to shippers in their ports.
Kevin Derby, a reporter for Sunshine State News, can be reached at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com, or (850) 727-0859.
