Meetings to work out an agreement about the number of cruise ship and passengers and the size of ships coming into Key West seem to be off to a positive
In a stunning turn-around, a state bill designed to overturn a Key West referendum limiting the size of cruise ships and their passenger count may have died Tuesday after the bill was amended to include all Florida seaports.
Just hours before the bill was slated for a last legislative floor vote before going to Gov. Ron DeSantis for final consideration, the billâs sponsor, Rep. Spencer Roach, R-Lee County, added an amendment that gave the state control of cruise ships in all 15 deep water seaports in Florida. The previous bill iteration gave the state control only in Key West and would have overturned the results of the cityâs referendum last November when cruise ship size restrictions were overwhelmingly approved by voters.
WLRN
TALLAHASSEE - A controversial effort to overturn a vote by Key West residents restricting cruise ship operations is taking on water with the end of the legislative session on the horizon.
House sponsor Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers, postponed consideration of the bill on the House floor Tuesday for the second consecutive day. With the session scheduled to end Friday, the postponement would make it procedurally difficult to take up the bill (SB 426), which passed the Senate last week.
Opponents of the bill were getting optimistic but were not ready to celebrate.
“The ports have seen a lot of ups and downs concerning this piece of legislation, so we will never say never,” said Jessie Werner, spokeswoman for the Florida Ports Council. “But we can’t see a path forward for this bill at this point.”
A controversial effort to overturn a vote by Key West residents restricting cruise ship operations has been postponed in the Florida House and may not make it through this year's legislative session.
The Ports Have Seen A Lot Of Ups And Downs : Bid To Overturn Key West Vote May Be Sinking wfit.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wfit.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.