TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Tampa Area Would Receive $12 Million Under House Bill

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

A federal appropriations bill has marked $4.2 million for Port of Tampa dredging and maintenance.

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 26, 2009

TAMPA - Tucked into a $410 billion appropriations bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday is nearly $12 million in federal funding for projects in the Tampa Bay area, including $4.2 million for Port of Tampa dredging and maintenance.

The legislation, expected to be approved by the Senate and signed into law in the next few weeks, is aimed at funding government operations through this September.

If the local funding requests survive the Senate and President Barack Obama's veto pen, Port Tampa would also get an additional $478,000 to widen the channel and help pay for expanding the seaport, according to Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

"Significant investments in the Tampa Bay area will preserve jobs and provide a shot in the arm to the local economy," Castor said in a news release.

Other earmarks in the 2009 appropriations bill include:

• HART funding: $2.2 million

• Hillsborough County water taxi feasibility study: $475,000

• Pinellas County ex-offender reentry initiative: $300,000

• Dental clinic at Hillsborough Community College: $285,000

• Hillsborough Avenue beautification project: $237,000

• Boys and Girls Club of Tampa Bay — Gang Prevention: $250,000

The massive spending bill amounts to an 8 percent increase in spending over last year.

The 245 to 178 vote, which was split largely along party lines, came less than a day after Obama stood in the House chamber and discussed the soaring federal budget deficit — which is expected to top $1.4 trillion this year — while pleading for fiscal restraint.

Republicans, already chaffing about the $800 billion economic stimulus bill that passed this month, are criticizing the spending package because it is packed with thousands of earmarks, which devote funds to specific projects in various congressional districts.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that tracks federal spending, said the bill includes more than 8,000 earmarks, or an estimated $7.7 billion in spending.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT