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Florida Pushing Hard For Stimulus

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By BILLY HOUSE

bhouse@tampatrib.com

Published: January 26, 2009

WASHINGTON Floridians, including elected officials from Tampa Bay, are looking to President Barack Obama and his administration to meet a raft of expectations.

On the list: a bigger share of federal transportation dollars, help for hard-pressed state homeowners facing foreclosures, and money to reinvigorate the nation's space program.

Other aims include assurances against oil drilling off of Florida's shores, more Medicaid dollars for the state, and a big share of the national $825 billion stimulus plan.

Floridians aren't wasting any time. As early as this week, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is planning to sit down with Carol Browner, Obama's coordinator of White House policies on climate and energy, about getting the delayed Everglades restoration back on track.

Browner is a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator and a Miami native who once led Florida's environmental agency.

"It's time to start moving some dirt," said Nelson through a spokesman. Nelson also is inviting Ken Salazar, Obama's Secretary of the Interior, to pay a visit soon to the Everglades.

"We're making sure our needs are known," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, who thinks she and Nelson, in particular, are in a strong position to collaborate with the White House on issues important to Florida.

Castor says she is not above reminding people in the Obama administration that Florida is a key swing state that went in Obama's favor in November.

Already, her efforts to obtain more federal Medicaid dollars, combined with Republican Charlie Crist and other state leaders, appear to be paying off, with word last week the federal government is preparing a $4.3 billion boost for the state.

The Florida-centric wish lists have been pushed in letters and in other communications with the Obama team for several weeks.

Much of the early angling has focused squarely on the national $825 billion stimulus plan being put together by Obama and Congress. State leaders and local officials have provided lists of projects they think are ready to start if they can get some of the stimulus money.

Crist, in an early December letter to Obama, explained the Florida Department of Transportation had identified $7 billion in projects "ready to begin within 90 to 120 days."

The list gets specific, including such projects as $23 million in work on Ulmerton Road "from 119th Street to Seminole bypass." Altogether, Crist wrote that spending for these projects would generate a total $39 billion in economic benefits and create an additional 195,000 jobs.

Local Lawmakers In The Mix

Hillsborough County also has submitted to members of Congress a list of transportation and water projects totaling more than $400 million, from street widening to bridge repairs to video cameras at intersections.

The county also has submitted several energy-related projects, such as a projected $2.1 million plan to install a solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the main courthouse that could reduce energy costs by as much as $110,000 a year.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has submitted a list of projects for the city - totaling $695 million. They include a request for a $300 million reclaimed water project and other improvements she says will create as many as 5,300 jobs.

Florida's Republican senator, Mel Martinez, in a letter last month to then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden, wrote that housing "is the most pressing issue facing most Floridians."

Martinez, a former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, urged the incoming administration to consider that the economic stimulus plan should include programs to reduce the number of home foreclosures and stabilize housing prices.

In that same letter, Martinez mentions that when it comes to federal transportation dollars, "Florida is a donor state, meaning that for every dollar Floridians sent to the Federal Highway Trust Fund, we only get 88-cents back."

"Reforms were enacted in 2005 bringing that amount up to 92 cents in the future, but, to date, Florida has not received a fair share of transportation funding," Martinez wrote. He said that is a good argument to include money for Florida projects in the stimulus plan.

Martinez advises Biden in the same letter that "the new administration has the opportunity to present a bold plan to reinvigorate our nation's space program and inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers."

"A $2 billion infusion in NASA to expedite the completion of our nation's next generation manned space vehicle could shrink the gap in U.S. manned space flight by two years and employ thousands of aerospace engineers and high-tech workers," Martinez wrote.

"However, a more dramatic investment in NASA, perhaps even doubling its limited budget, could change and inspire a generation," he said, urging consideration of such funding in the stimulus plan.

Drilling Decisions Watched

Meanwhile, Nelson and environmental activists are keeping a close watch on Obama's position on offshore drilling.

Currently, the areas off of Florida's west coast - the Eastern Gulf of Mexico - are protected through 2022 under legislation passed by Nelson and Martinez. The closest point drilling can occur is about 100 miles off of the Panhandle and 125 miles off of most areas of Florida

But last year, Congress let expire a 26-year ban on Atlantic, Pacific and Alaskan offshore drilling - including off the Atlantic shores of Florida.

And a proposal in the final days of the Bush administration could push the drilling in these areas forward.

Conservationists and others are now pushing the Obama administration to work to reinstate the ban.

Nelson is among those hoping to help persuade Obama against moving forward with plans to expand offshore drilling in previously banned areas.

"Hopefully the new administration will see why we shouldn't risk Florida's economy and environment for an insignificant amount of oil," Nelson said through a spokesman.

Crist, in his December letter, had another request of Obama.

"Florida is the home to 14 seaports, and international trade is vital to our economy," he wrote. "I urge consideration of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement. It is estimated that such an agreement could increase Florida's exports to Colombia by $161 million and create an additional 1,775 jobs in the first year alone.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673.

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