developing strong partnerships on this trade lane.” The announcement comes after months of an aggressive marketing campaign by Florida officials, several years of investments in Florida ports and infrastructure, and a specific invitation by DeSantis last October for companies to move their operations to Florida ports. Last October, DeSantis announced that Florida seaports had open capacity and could meet holiday demand, while other seaports across the country were struggling with logjams. He made the invitation at JAXPORT, stating that JAXPORT, Port Everglades, Port Tampa Bay and Port Panama City all had availability to handle more cargo. “Year after year we continue to invest in our seaports, in infrastructure and in workforce education to make sure our supply chain is resilient,” DeSantis said. “I’m especially proud of Florida’s seaports. They are crown jewels in our state. While other U.S. ports are just now announcing around-theclock operations, in Florida many of our ports are used to serving Florida farmers, families and businesses with 24-hour operations.” To sweeten the deal, JAXPORT announced it was offering incentives to any company that chose to bring its business to the port. Since then, several companies have contacted JAXPORT about shifting their business to Florida, many citing DeSantis’ invitation. The Florida Ports Council also aggressively ramped up its marketing strategies in the second half of 2021, encouraging cargo ships stuck in congested and delayed California seaports to change shipping lanes and divert to Florida ports. Florida officials last weekend attended a conference in California inviting cargo ship companies to come to Florida. Leaders from the Florida Ports Council, JAXPORT, Port Everglades, PortMiami, Port Tampa Bay and Port Manatee highlighted Florida’s seaport vessel capabilities, equipment capacity and 24/7 supply chain efficiencies. Within one week, Sea Lead Shipping announced it was moving part of its operations from Port of Long Beach, California, to JAXPORT. Sea Lead Shipping’s new service is initially expected to bring 400-500 loaded containers to be discharged at JAXPORT and will bring in $400,000 in new revenue. Florida has recently broken cargo container records, seen new shipping lines calling on Florida ports, and has successfully shifted cargo that would typically call on West Coast ports to the Sunshine State. JAXPORT CEO Eric Green said that Sea Lead Shipping’s decision to call on JAXPORT, “and the jobs and economic impact it brings to Jacksonville, is a direct result of the dedication and foresight of our elected officials who have invested in a deeper channel and infrastructure upgrades to enable JAXPORT to serve a wider variety of vessels.” Since 2019, Florida has invested nearly $1 billion into its seaports to ensure they have the capacity to serve as much cargo as possible, and prioritized infrastructure investments in roadways to ensure capability of handling freight movements. In his 2022-2023 proposed budget, DeSantis directed $10.4 billion toward Florida’s transportation infrastructure. The funding will enable Florida seaports to double capacity of cargo containers they receive from 4 million to 8 million containers a year. Florida’s seaports are a major economic driver, supporting 900,000 direct and indirect jobs, and contributing almost $118 billion to the state’s economy through cargo and cruise activities, the Florida Ports Council says. JAXPORT and Port Everglades, two of Florida’s 15 seaports, began experiencing increases in cargo ships calling on their ports last year in an effort to avoid port congestions elsewhere. Port Everglades saw 11% growth year over year and is up more than 25% year to date. At Port Manatee, the first quarter of 2022 showed a 15% increase in short tons. Wood products, which normally go into California, have been coming to Port Manatee instead. PortMiami recorded its busiest cargo year in its history, up almost 18% over last year with most of the additional cargo attributed to imports coming from Asia, which would normally go into California. Port Tampa container tonnage increased by 14% in the first quarter of 2022. It saw huge jumps in building materials with steel up 122% and lumber up 160%. Bethany Blankley The Center Square The Sun Bay Paper Page 5 March 11, 2022 - March 17, 2022 Shipping Companies Move to Florida’s Open Ports It's been close to two years since Congress closed its doors to the public to slow the spread of COVID-19. While states and local governments are discarding their COVID-19 rules and shutdowns, the U.S. Capitol remains off-limits to the general public. With most Americans back at work, eating out and gathering in large crowds, it's time for Congress to join the party and welcome the American people into "The People's House," not float the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as reason to keep the public outside. Toward that end, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced a resolution to reopen the Capitol Building by April 4. "It's time for Capitol Hill to return to normal," Hagerty wrote in The Tennessean. "The openness of the halls of Congress and public participation in the legislative process have always been the hallmarks of American democracy, which is why this inexplicable lockdown must end." Senate Democrats held up the resolution at first but then joined Republicans and passed the measure by unanimous consent. At the moment, visitors must go through a senator's or member's office to be escorted inside the building. The House has not passed such a measure. "This is not a facile issue," Mark B. Harkins of the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University told me. "Absolutely we should have the Capitol open for people to see," Harkins added. "It's a democracy, and we need to see our members in their working environment. However, we need to make sure that we do it in a way that is safe for all, including visitors, the staff and members." He fears a repeat riot. The halls of power used to be clogged with students on a pilgrimage to Washington and activists flitting from one office to the next trying to push or kill legislation. Now those halls are essentially "appointment only." Lobbyists can't lobby in the lobbies. Staffers have tried to make up for the vacuum with resources like visitthecapitol.gov that provide virtual tours, but that's not enough. "No one will downplay the seriousness of what happened" on Jan. 6, 2021, wrote Paul Miller, chairman of the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics, "but even after 9/11, Capitol Hill reopened quickly." Note to readers: Lobbyists don't just represent the causes you hate; they also include activists in service of causes you support. The Capitol Police are shortstaffed to the tune of about 400 officers, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger recently told Fox News. The workforce is comprised of more than 2,300 officers and civilians. Hagerty is open to a roll-out plan with a reduced number of entrances while staffing is low. There is talk of using the National Guard and private security guards to augment Capitol Police, as well as limiting the number of entrances open to the public until staffing hits the mark. Safety? That was the reason House Democrats held onto their mask mandate until they realized how bad they would look wearing masks at President Joe Biden's March 1 State of the Union address. "Last year, COVID-19 kept us apart," Biden told lawmakers that night. "This year, we are finally together again." Together? Hail. Hail. The gang's all here -- but the gang doesn't include the rest of us chickens. Debra J. Saunder The People's House -- Without the People Cont from pg 1
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