TAMPA, Fla. — Give us back our money.
That was essentially the message from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who was visiting Port Tampa Bay Monday.
The Florida Republican says the federal government owes Florida taxpayers $140 million for projects the state undertook during his administration.
“We’ve got to invest in our ports,” said Scott, echoing the same jobs-friendly focus he had as governor for eight years.
“As we invest in our ports we get more jobs, as we invest these dollars to invest in more cranes, improve our berthing, we did the dredge project, we continue to get more and more good, very good paying jobs,” said Scott.
Scott is on a whirlwind tour or Florida’s ports, talking about $1.4 billion invested in infrastructure and expansion during his administration.
But $140 million of that was in the form of an IOU from the federal government, and Scott says it’s high time Uncle Sam paid it back.
“It’s work to get federal resources,” said Scott. “But, they’re supposed to be a partner in our port. That’s their job.”
Port Tampa Bay saw a lot of key projects take shape in those years.
That’s important since 85,000 Tampa Bay area jobs are directly or indirectly depend on it.
There has been a massive petroleum facility upgrade, making Tampa the state’s top energy gateway.
A pair of enormous gantry cranes now sit at the port, able to accommodate mega-sized cargo ships.
And the port is just wrapping up a channel dredging project, opening trade with China.
“We are just completing this week the dredging of Big Bend Channel,” said Port Tampa Bay CEO Paul Anderson, “which will allow bigger ships, more jobs and more economic impact.”
“We wouldn’t have gotten it done had we not put up the money,” said Scott, who as governor was not willing to wait for the federal government to send Florida the money. “We would’ve gotten it done someday, but what that did is accelerate 33,000 more jobs.".
When asked how he intended to get back the $140 million he was unable to get during his tenure as governor, Scott said as a senator he’s now part of the group that allocates federal money.
So, he plans to push his fellow senators to make good on that debt.
He then wants to see the money put right back into more port projects and beefed up border security.
Scott says his other priorities include a $750 million request for Florida‘s military installations, including MacDill Air Force Base and rebuilding Tyndall Air Force Base in the panhandle, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Michael.
He says he’s also focused on Florida’s environment, including the Lake Okeechobee dike project and Florida Everglades restoration.
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