In front of an audience of about 70 port business leaders and port authority executives at the port’s Cruise Terminal 2, Governor Scott’s bill signing today marks a milestone that effectively and immediately puts an end to certain Florida seaport requirements that were considered to be unnecessary, costly and duplicative—namely the requirement of two individual port access badges that each required separate background checks and administrative processes. By eliminating such redundancy, the legislation bolsters port stakeholders who have been at a competitive disadvantage with ports from other states, because of costs and administrative burdens not faced by ports in other states.
Port users, including truckers, longshoremen and anyone else requiring port access to accomplish a wide variety of related occupations, will see immediate cost and time savings related to port access badging. Additionally, this new law will allow flexibility to more efficiently allocate security resources at the Port of Tampa—a port that provides unique security circumstances because of the size and scope of port properties, access points and port/cargo operations.
For the last few years, port authority staff and a diverse mix of other port business leaders, locally and from around the state, had been working together to provide solid arguments and official testimony advocating that duplicate access badges were unnecessary and counterproductive. Notably, the Port of Tampa Maritime Industries Association (PTMIA), with the ongoing leadership of Tampa attorney Tim Shusta, and the Propeller Club—Port of Tampa, were fierce advocates in this regard. A consistent and unified Port of Tampa voice, combined with staunch support on the legislative level, was critical in seeing the eventual passage of the bill, which has now become law.
“We are extremely pleased as a port community to see this legislation become reality today,” Richard Wainio, Tampa’s port director and chief executive, said. “The Tampa Port Authority is wholly committed to providing a strong security framework. This legislation will allow us additional flexibility to more efficiently manage and deploy security resources at the Port of Tampa. Most importantly, it removes significant and unnecessary cost and administrative burdens from our port stakeholders. We commend bill sponsors Representative Young and Senator Latvala for their commitment to championing this legislation, and we thank Governor Scott for signing the bill today,” he said.
Today’s signing falls on the heels of the governor’s visit a few weeks ago to the Port of Tampa, where he received a thorough briefing on the port’s operations, key development plans and a guided tour of port facilities. Gov. Scott has been very public about his support of ports in Florida and their strong connection to the vitality of the state’s economy.