A proposed transportation center for trucking and shipping interests near Liberty City is one of the projects Gov. Rick Scott approved Friday in the 2018 budget.
Scott signed the $88.7 billion budget, which includes $550 million in tax cuts, and salary increases for law enforcement, firefighters and juvenile justice employees. It also includes another $282 million for the 24 regional CareerSource employment boards that assist Floridians who seek employment.
The bill also includes $2 million for development of Poinciana Industrial Park, the site eyed by state Rep. Roy Hardemon for a shipping and logistics hub that could help move freight between Miami International Airport and PortMiami.
“Poinciana is in there,” Hardemon said late Friday. “This is the first time in decades that we got some resources for this community when it comes to job creation. I’m delighted. I’m pinching myself to see if it’s real. It’s actually real.”
Poinciana, a vast tract of county-owned property, has sat vacant for decades with failed promises of economic development.
This is the second consecutive year that Hardemon attempted to get state funds for the project. The first bill went nowhere, he said…
