Sat, Feb 18, 2012
Increases Funding Eligibility for Space-Related Projects
Florida Governor Rick Scott gave Florida’s space industry
a boost Thursday by signing Senate Bill 634 increasing funding
eligibility for space-related projects. Governor Scott was joined
by bill sponsors Senator Benacquisto and Representative Workman, as
well as Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll for the bill signing in the
Governor’s office in Tallahassee.
“With more than 2,000 aviation and aerospace companies
employing more than 83,000 workers in Florida, there’s no
denying how important the space industry is to our economy,”
said Governor Scott (pictured). “This bill is important to
Florida’s space industry and I applaud the bill sponsors and
Space Florida for making it a priority.”
The bill clarifies language in state statute to better define
launch support facilities that are eligible for infrastructure
funding from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and
may increase federal funding opportunities by aligning state and
federal definitions. As a result of this bill, FDOT infrastructure
funds can be utilized on a broader spectrum of applicable space
projects included in Space Florida’s spaceport master
plan.
“As Chair of Space Florida it gave me great pride to join
bill sponsors Senator Benacquisto and Representative Workman today
as Governor Scott signed this Space Florida priority into law. This
furthers our efforts to bring more high-quality, high-wage jobs to
Florida in the areas of science and technology and will help
Florida expand our world-class space infrastructure,” said
Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll.
“In the past, it has been unclear how to align
space-related funding requests under traditional definitions of
FDOT-appropriate projects,” said Space Florida President
Frank DiBello. “This bill clearly defines the areas that may
be considered for State-level funding and as a result, more
space-related projects have a likelihood of getting the critical
support they need to progress.”
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