At a press conference Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Crist came out strongly in favor of two bills in the House and Senate that focus on making Floridas fourteen ports more competitive.
Crist said, International trade is an economic driver in Florida. Crist said that Floridas fourteen seaports generated $82 billion for economy and $1.7 billion in revenue for the state.
Crist said, Every $1 dollar invested in ports leads to a $7 benefit.
Jobs, jobs, jobs, thats what its all about, Crist said.
Accompanying Crist were Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, and Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, who are sponsoring the legislation.
Ray said that commercial trade through the seaports accounted for 550,000 jobs in Florida and $66 billion in salaries. Ray said that the ports also provide jobs for 126,000 Floridians in the cruise industry. The average salary for port jobs is $54,400 in Florida, Ray said.
Crist and Ray talked about the ports issue on Friday during a town hall meeting in Jacksonville and the governor pledged that his administration will do all that it can to ensure the passage of the measures.
Today, Crist and Ray stressed that Florida need to be proactive in improving its port facilities. Crist said that Florida needs to improve the ports before the Panama Canal expansion project is completed in 2014. Estimates maintain that the expansion project, the largest renovations of the canal since its creation, will double the traffic in the canal.
While Crist focused on the international component, Ray said that Florida faced competition from other states. Other states are targeting the state of Florida for jobs, Ray said, referring to the competition offered by ports in New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Houston, Oakland, Los Angeles and Seattle. Ray said, Doing nothing will lose jobs.
HB 963 and SB 2000 streamline the process allowing new companies to use the 14 ports in Florida. HB 1169 and SB 1992 establish and fund the Florida Ports Investment Corporation, which will oversee using tax credits to lure new business to the states ports.
While the bills initially contained $500 million, the House Economic Development Committee lowered this to $80 million before passing the legislation. Ray said he remained optimistic about his legislation and said that every dollar helped. He said he hoped the funding could arrive before November and said that there were 35,000 new port jobs in Miami-Dade that could start this year.
The Senate legislation has passed through the Commerce Committee but it has also been referred to three other committees.
Interim President of the Florida Ports Council Nancy Leikauf said, We are wholly supportive of the legislation being sponsored by Rep. Ray and Sen. Rinks.
Leikauf said that Rays legislation will help all the ports in the state. Every port in Florida will benefit when the Panama Canal is widened, she said. She said that one possibility for the future was for the fourteen ports to regional representation bodies, much like the water management districts in the state.
I am hopeful the Florida House and Senate will recognize the economic impact of Floridas port communities and the potential they have for future economic growth, said Governor Crist. I am confident our ports can boost state and local revenues through job creation, business expansion and an increased focus on one of Floridas most important geographic advantages.
