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Support the Nelson-Shelby Amendment to Transportation Bill RESTORE Act Ensures BP Penalties are Used for Restoration

Reuters and other major media outlets have recently reported that BP may reach an agreement this month to settle with the Justice Department on all charges related to BP's unprecedented Gulf oil spill, including fines to be paid under the Clean Water Act.

Unless Congress takes action before fthis seUiement is reached, a significant portion of those funds could be used for unrelated federal spending, instead of helping ihe Gulf. Thai's no~ right

~ The damage from the oil spill was done in the Gulf, so Congress should ensure that oil spill fines go to the Gulf.

o Using the oil spill penalties to restore the Gulf region's communities, environment and economy is the fair and right thing to do.

);> By passing the RESTORE Act, Congress can ensure that BP's fines from the spill go to the Gulf where they belong- instead of being used for unrelated federal spending.

• Bipartisan polling shows that 83 percent of voters nationwide support efforts to dedicate the BP oil spill penalties to restoration of the Gulf ecosystem.

• The poll also showed that support for restoration is strong across party lines. Those who support funding restoration include: o 90 percent of Democrats; o 84 percent of independents; o 76 percent of Republicans; and o 78 percent of Tea Party supporters.

~ The Gulf region and its environment support some of this country's most vital industries.

o Duke University released a study in December showing that the RESTORE Act could create jobs that would benefit at least 140 businesses across the country with nearly 400 employee locations in 37 states.

• The Gulf produces roughly 40 percent of all the seafood in the contiguous 48 states. (National Marine Fisheries Service)

o The region is home to 10 of our nation's 15 largest ports by tonnage. More than 25 percent of the nation's waterborne exports pass through Louisiana ports alone. (American Association of Port Authorities)

;.. Strengthening the environment of the Gulf region will make it stronger and more resilient so it will continue to be the backbone of our nation's economy and a safe home to the communities that make it a national treasure. Manatee County Itinerary • Charlie Hunsicker Wednesday, March 7th:

NACO Legislative Conference

8:30 a.m.- 9:30 a.m. Manatee Strategy Breakfast 434 New Jersey Ave SE • Jocelyn, Jack, Allen, & Hadley to Attend

10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Congressman Bill Shuster (R-9th/P A) Stephen Martinko, Deputy Chief of Staff & Legislative Director (202) 225-2431 (Stephen) 204 Cannon House Office Building Issue: Port Manatee Connector Road • Jocelyn to Attend

11:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Manatee Strategy Lunch 434 New Jersey Ave. SE • Jocelyn, Jack, Hadley, & Jay to Attend • 12:30 p.m.- 1:00 p.m. Congressman (R-11 th/NJ) Kathleen Hazlett Appropriations Committee (202) 225-5034 (Austin Bone) 2369 Rayburn House Office Building Issue: Anna Maria Island • Congressman should be there. • Jack to Attend

1 :30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Congressman Tim Bishop (D-1 st/NY) Ranking Member, Water Resources & Energy Subcommittee Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (202) 225-3826 (Taryn) 306 Cannon House Office Building Issue: Anna Maria Island • Allen to Attend

2:00p.m.- 2:30p.m. Congressman John Duncan (R-2nd/TN) Chair, Highway & Transits Subcommittee (202) 225-5435 (Denise Lambert) 2207 Rayburn House Office Building • Issue: Port Manatee Connector Road • Jack to Attend

3:00p.m.- 3:30p.m. Office of Governor Rick Scott • (R-I3th/FL)

Elected: 2006, 3rd term. Born: May 8, 1951 , Detroit, MI. Home: Longboat Key. Education: Cleary U., B.B.A. 1975, U. of Detroit, M.B.A. 1986. Religion: Baptist. Family: Married (Sandy); 2 children. Military career: MI Air Natl. Guard, 1970-76. Professional Career: Taekwondo instructor, 1971-74; Marketing representative, Burroughs Corp .• 1975-76; Founder, Vern Buchanan and Associates, 1976-78; Founder and CEO, American Speedy Printing Centers, 1976-92; Founder and chmn., Buchanan Automotive Group, 1992-2007; Founder and chmn., Buchanan Enterprises, 1992-2007.

The congressman from the 13th District is V em Buchanan, a Republican first elected in 2006. Buchanan grew up outside of Detroit, the eldest of six children and the son of a factory foreman. He joined the Michigan Air National Guard and worked his way through college as a tae kwon do instructor. He earned a business degree at Cleary University and later an M.B.A. at the University of Detroit. Buchanan founded American Speedy Printing Centers and made his fortune by selling 700 quick-printing franchises before his 40th birthday. In 1990, he moved his family to , where he found new success as an automobile dealer with franchises throughout the Southeast. Buchanan became active in Republican Party politics, serving as a top fundraiser for Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Mel Martinez. In 2002, he wanted to run for the 13th District House seat, but stepped aside for then-Florida Secretary of State , • who had become a national Republican figure after her controversial role in the 2000 presidential vote recount.

Buchanan got his chance in 2006, when Harris ran for the Senate. His party connections and personal wealth made him the front-runner. In the primary, he stressed his conservative credentials and challenged his chief rival. former Sarasota Republican Party Chairman T ramm Hudson, for his positions on abortion rights and immigration.

In the House, Buchanan softened his ideological positions. He was one of 19 Republicans who supported most of the Democrats' early legislative agenda when they took control of the House in 2007. He voted for raising the minimum wage, cutting subsidies to industries, and allowing the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. He took stances further to the right on such issues as immigration and terrorism, calling for an English official-language law and using military tribunals instead of civilian courts to try terrorist suspects.

Buchanan worked with Democrats on a bill to clean up the Gulf ofMexico, and on other environmental and consumer issues. After the BP oil spill disaster in 2010, he pushed for a moratorium on all deepwater drilling permits for new and existing oil rigs in the Gulf. The former car dealer voted against the bailout of Detroit automakers in 2008 because, he said, the companies "failed to develop viable restructuring proposals." The industry problems led him to sell several of his dealerships . • • Bill Shuster (R-9th /PA)

Elected: May 2001, 5th fUll term. Born: Jan. IO, 1961 , McKeesport. Home: Hollidaysburg. Education: Dickinson Col., B.A. 1983; American U., M.B.A. 1987. Religion: Lutheran. Family: Married (Rebecca); 2 children. Professional Career: Mgr., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 1983-87; District mgr., Bandag Inc., 1987-90; Owner & gen. mgr., Shuster Chrysler, 1990-2001.

The congressman from the 9th District is Bill Shuster, a Republican who won a May 2001 special election to succeed his father, Bud Shuster, the powerfUl chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the 1990s. The younger Shuster has become an important GOP figure on transportation issues in his own right. Bill Shuster grew up in the area, where his father started a successfUl business. After graduating from Dickinson College and American University's business school, he moved to Blair County, where he took over the family's car dealership, Shuster Chrysler in East Freedom, near Altoona. He sold • the business in 2002. In the House, Bill Shuster has a solidly conservative voting record. Naturally, he ended up on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and in 201 I took the gavel of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee. His loyalty t~ the House GOP agenda has eam~d him a spot on its whip team and Republican leaders occasionally have called on him for behind-the-scenes jobs, such as reportedly leading an unsuccessful effort to persuade Pennsylvania Democrat Christopher Carney to switch parties in 2009. Shuster does occasionally reach across the aisle, joining with Vermont D~mocrat Peter Welch in 20II in an effort to expedite limits on credit-card swipe fees. He said Sheetz Corp. executives told him that such fees were the company's second-largest expense behind labor. In his father's tradition, Shuster has been an avid practitioner of earmarked spending for his district, a practice that in recent years has been attacked by budget conservatives as wastefUl. In 2010, he claimed more than $23 million in earmarks-a figure only slightly below that of his home-state colleague Chaka Fattah, a Democratic member of the Appropriations Committee. Shuster had an unusually strong challenge in the 2004 primary from Michael DelGrosso, a management consultant whose family owns a Blair County tomato sauce company. He said that the district needed a new economic approach. DelGrosso carried Blair. County and three nearby counties in the northern part of the district, but Shuster ran strongly elsewhere and squeezed by with a SI%-49% win. He has not been • seriously challenged in recent elections . • Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-IIth/NJ)

Elected: I 994, 9th term. Born: April29, I946 , New Y ark City. Home: Harding. Education: Hobart Col., B.A. I969. Religion: Episcopalian. Family: Married (Virginia); 2 children. Military career: Army, I969-7I (Vietnam). Elected office: Morris Cnty. Bd. of Freeholders, I 974-83; NJ Assembly, I983-94. Professional Career: Aide, Morris Cnty. Bd. of Freeholders, I972-74.

The congressman from the I Ith District is Rodney Frelinghuysen (FRfi£-:.ling-high-zen), a Republican first elected in I994. He is the scion of one ofNew Jersey's most durable political families. The Frelinghuysens emigrated from Germany near the Dutch border in I720 and settled in what is now the lith District. Four Frelinghuysens served as senators from New Jersey, starting in I793 and as recently as I923 . Frelinghuysen has taken moderate and even liberal stands on some issues, but is more conservative on defense and foreign policy. He refused to join fellow New Jersey moderates Frank LoBiondo, Chris Smith • and Leonard Lance in supporting the cap-and-trade bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, calling it a "job-killer." He also cited numerous objections to the health care overhaul. But he was one of 92 House Republicans who banded with Democrats in February 20I I to reject the conservative Republican Study Committee's proposed $I 00 billion in spending cuts on the fiscal 20 I I continuing ·resolution. · ·

He showed his insider skills by winning a seat on the Appropriations Committee while still a freshman, a rarity. He concentrated on big projects: construction of the Hudson-Bergen light rail, dredging of channels in the Port of New York and New Jersey, millions to slow erosion on the Jersey Shore. In 20IO, he secured $20 million to improve facilities at two Veterans Affairs hospitals.

As Frelinghuysen has gained seniority, he was able in 20I I to claim the gavel of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, making him a critical gatekeeper in Obama's plans to significantly boost clean-energy research. During debate on the fiscal20IO energy and water bill, he expressed concerns about the need to protect and maintain the nuclear weapons stockpile, which the bill also funds. Frelinghuysen is best known nationally as the sponsor of the "Know Your Caller" law, which bars telemarketers from interfering with Caller ID systems of customers seeking to avoid such solicitations. Another of his pet projects is environmental cleanup in his district, which he says has more Superfund sites than any other. He tours the sites annually with environmental and local officials to get updates on cleanup • progress. Frelinghuysen has not been seriously challenged for re-election . • Tim Bishop (D-Ist /NY)

Elected: 2002, 5th term. Born: June I, I950, Southampton. Home: Southampton. Education: Holy Cross Col., A.B. I972; Long Island U., M.P.A. I98I. Religion: Catholic. Family: Married (Kathryn); 2 children. Professional Career: Admin., Southampton College, I973-2002.

The representative from the Ist District is Tim Bishop, a Democrat first elected in 2002. He grew up in Southampton, the son of a telephone lineman, and graduated from Holy Cross College and Long Island University. He spent his entire professional career at Southampton College, where he began in I973 as an admissions counselor and by I986 had become provost. He chaired the town of Southampton's Board of Ethics and was on the board of the Eastern Long Island Coastal Conservation Alliance . In the House, Bishop compiled a voting record near the center of House Democrats, becoming more of a loyalist in recent years. After the shooting of Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords in January 20 I I, he • was among the Democrats to quickly cosponsor legislation to limit gun clip sizes to I 0 rounds. His initial vote on health care in 2009 enraged some constituents and led him to cancel town hall meetings; after one particularly emotional session, he needed a police escort back to his car. But he still backed the final bill. With his extensive background in academia, he played a leading role on the Education and Labor Committee in the 2008 higher education bill that enacted spending increases for colleges and universities. And he has championed more federal funding to help schools adapt to the demands of the 200I No Child Left Behind law. With California Democrat Hilda Solis, he won passage of an amendment in 2005 to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from testing pesticides on humans. And the House passed his bill in April20IO to implement management plans for 28 estuaries. One of his key issues is adjusting the alternative minimum tax to stop it from ensnaring middle-class taxpayers along with wealthy taxpayers with myriad tax shelters who are its actual target .

• • John Duncan (R-2nd/TN)

Elected: Nov. 1988, 12th fUll term. Born: July 21, 1947, Lebanon. Home: Knoxville. Education: U. of TN, B.S. 1969, George Washington U., J.D. 1973. Religion: Presbyterian. Family: Married (Lynn); 4 children. Militaty career: Army Natl. Guard & Army Reserves, 1970-87. Professional Career: Practicing atty., 1973-81; Knox Cnty. judge, 1981-88.

The congressman from the 2nd District is John (Jimmy) Duncan, a Republican first elected in 1988. He has been a frequent maverick on economic and foreign policy issues, something that has hindered his ascension up the House GOP ranks. His father, who was the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, represented the 2nd District from 1964 until his death in May 1988. Jimmy Duncan got a bachelor's degree in journalism at the University ofTennessee and a law degree from George Washington University. He practiced law and was a trial judge in the 1980s. When his father died, he won the seat despite a spirited challenge from • Democrat Dudley Taylor, a scion of another prominent East Tennessee political family. Taylor attacked Duncan for his ties to scandal-tarred banker and Democratic politician Jake Butcher. But Duncan won with 57% in November. He has not been seriously challenged since then.

While Duncan is known for his independence, he has become more inclined to side with his party in recent years. He was one of just I 0 Republicans in April 2009 to vote in favor of the Democrats' bill to curb employee bonuses at fmancial companies receiving government bailout fUnds. In July 2009, he was one of two Republicans to support expanded regulatory oversight of all executive compensation. In April 201 I, he voted against the compromise that Republicans struck with President Obama on the fiscal20I I budget to avert a shutdown. Duncan opposed normal trade relations with China and the Bush administration's 2001 No Child Left Behind education law that imposed mandatory testing on schools. In October 2002, he was one of six Republicans-and the only T ennessean-who voted against the use of force in Iraq. He argued that there was not sufficient proof that Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He did please some anti-government conservatives in November 2010 when he took to the House floor to declaim the Transportation Security Administration's "very embarrassing, intrusive" procedures for pat-down searches of airport travelers. In 20 I I, Duncan became chairman of the committee's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, where he sought to play a major role in getting a multi-year surface transportation bill into law. He has disdained "radical environmentalists" whom he accused in a June 2010 floor speech of being insensitive to rural • Americans . • Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL)

Elected: 2010, term expires Jan. 20I5, Ist term. Born: Dec. I, I952, Bloomington, IL. Home: Tallahassee. Education: U. ofMO, Kansas City, B.A. I975; Southern Methodist U., J.D. I978. Religion: Christian. Family: Married (Ann); 2 children. Military career: U.S. Navy, I97I-74. Professional Career: Co-founder, chmn. and CEO, Columbia/HCA, I987-97; Venture capitalist, I997-2010; Practicing atty., Johnson & Swanson, Dallas.

Rick Scott, a Republican, was elected governor of Florida in 2010. He grew up in Kansas City, Mo., the son of a truck driver and JCPenney clerk. He enlisted in the Navy after one year of community college. After his military service, Scott enrolled at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and, displaying an early entrepreneurial streak, financed his education by buying two donut shops and hiring his mother to manage them. Undergraduate degree in hand, he went to Southern Methodist University in Texas for a law degree. After college, he went to work for a large firm, where he specialized in health care mergers and acquisitions. • When that offer was rejected, Scott and Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater started their own hospital company called Columbia with $I25,000 in savings. Columbia started off in I988 with two hospitals in El Paso, and for the next nine years, bought up dozens of hospitals, many of them nonprofit operations, and offered ownership shares to doctors who made referrals. Columbia became highly profitable, and in I994, made a successfUl bid for HCA. The merged Columbia/HCA firm added 80 more hospitals, mainly in rural areas, by the end of the next year. Scott worked to reduce costs and to require more accountability while opening up bypass surgery facilities. By I997, Columbia/HCA was the nation's largest health care company and its seventh largest employer, with 340 hospitals, $20 billion in revenues and 285,000 employees Scott bought control of America's Health Network cable channel and in 200I, co-founded Solantic, which operates walk-in urgent care centers throughout Florida and specializes in patients without insurance. In 2003, Scott moved to Naples, Fla. In March 2009, Scott pitched in $5 million to found Conservatives for Patients' Rights, which ran TV ads featuring Scott criticizing the Democrats' health care bills, particularly the provision creating a government-financed insurance option, and spotlighting negative results of government health care in Canada and Britain. It spent $1.6 million on ads through May 2009. The Democrats' health care bill passed in March 20IO, and the next month, Scott announced that he was running for governor as a Republican to succeed , a Republican who was running for the Senate. • Scott's total spending ultimately reached $73 million. Scott won another squeaker, 49%-48%. In his first term, Scott hoped to make significant budget cuts. In February 20I I, he set up a website that touted a number of proposed changes. This included the elimination of a prescription drug database aimed at fighting "pill mills," which were blamed for spreading oxycodone addiction; steep cuts to the • state's Department of Environmental Protection; and cutbacks in unemployment compensation (Scott would later agree to keep the prescription drug database). Scott also proposed an education budget that included $1.75 billion in cuts. In the May 20II budget, Scott vetoed a record $615 million, including $305 million for environmental land buys and $169 million in college projects. At $69.I billion, the budget was about $I .3 billion smaller than in the previous fiscal year. He also won praise from tea party groups for cutting prized legislative earmarks in the state. But Scott raised the ire of Democrats by eliminating about !,300 state jobs, with employees at the departments of Children and Families and Juvenile Justice bearing the brunt of the layoffs.

Scott also signed a law in May that implemented dramatic changes in the state's property insurance policies. In the summer of 201 I, Scott signed several education bills into law that aimed to expand the use of school vouchers and increase enrollment at high-performing chatter schools.

In a move that displayed Scott's willingness to refuse funds from the federal government, the governor wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood saying the state didn't need $2.4 billion in DOT money for a high-speed train line between Tampa and Orlando. The project had been in the works for many years, and Scott's decision was criticized by legislators in both parties. Scott insisted that Florida taxpayers would ultimately be asked to pick up the tab for some of the construction costs. However, Scott surprised some people by giving the final approval in July 201 I for the planned Orlando-area SunRail commuter train stretching from Volusia County through Osceola County in Central Florida. Scott also pleased some liberals for vetoing a bill that would have relaxed reporting requirements for assisted living facilities that have received fines in the past. Scott's ambitious agenda came with some risk, and his poll numbers sagged throughout the year. A • Quinnipiac University poll in May put Scott's approval rating at 29 percent. His numbers climbed a bit to 3 7 percent in September, but Scott would need to improve his job approval rating considerably if he hopes to get re-elected. Still, Scott had some legislative successes and displayed an ability to be nimble on the job. An August 20 I I Tamp a T nbune article reported that Scott had kept most of his campaign pledges. ' . ... - - . . "

• • (D-FL)

Elected: 2000, term expires 2012, 2nd term. Born: Sept. 29, 1942 , Miami. Home: Orlando. Education: Yale U., B.A. 1965; U. ofVA, J.D. 1968. Religion: Protestant. Family: Married (Grace Cavett); 2 children. Military career: U.S. Army, 1968-70; U.S. Army Reserves, 1965-71. Elected office: FL House of Reps., 1972-78; U.S. House ofReps., 1978-90; FL treasurer, insurance comm. & fire marshal, 1994-2000. Professional Career: Practicing atty., 1970-79, 1991-94; Legis. asst., FL Gov. Reubin Askew, 1971; Crew member, Space Shuttle Columbia, I 986.

Bill Nelson was first elected to the Senate in 2000. He grew up in Melbourne, Fla. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his father was a lawyer and real estate investor who died when Bill was I 4. Nelson likes to recall that his great-grandfather arrived in Florida from Denmark as a stowaway on a ship. From his family home in Rock Point, Nelson could see rockets blast off in the I950s and I960s from what is now the Kennedy Space Center. He was active in student government and has always been something of a straight arrow; he doesn't drink, smoke or swear. He attended the University of Florida for two years, and then graduated from Yale and the University of Virginia law school. After a two-year hitch in the Army, he returned to Melbourne and briefly practiced law and worked on the staff of Democratic Gov. Reubin • Askew. In 1972, at age 30, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. In 1978, when Republican Rep. Louis Frey retired, Nelson ran for the U.S. House in a district that then included the Space Coast's Brevard County and most of Orlando's Orange County. His religious faith and traditional values, his indefatigable campaigning and folksy manner made him popular in an area that was trending Republican. He. won the seat 6I%-39%: in five .suc:ceeding.elections, he captured 61% to 73% of the ballots in a district that voted just 29% for Democrat Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential race. In the House, he became chairman of the Science Committee's Spac.c Subc~mmittee, obviously of prime importance to the district. Nelson's chance to run for higher office came in March 1999, when Republican Sen. Connie Mack said he would not run for re-election in 2000. In the Senate, Nelson has become known as a careful, deliberative lawmaker who has compiled a moderate-to-liberal voting record. He is not especially well known nationally, but his activity on issues directly relevant to segments of Florida's population-including space, oil drilling, health care and national security-has raised his profile. Since January 2007, Nelson has been chairman of the Commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over the space program. After the loss of Colwnbia, he called for accelerated development of a reusable space vehicle to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. In 2004, Nelson won passage of an amendment calling on NASA to report to Congress on the costs of extending the space shuttle program beyond 2010, but he did not get approval of another amendment requiring NASA to find laid-off shuttle • workers similar jobs in the agency. When President Obama took office, Nelson sharply criticized his administration's commitment to NASA and got a bill through the Senate in 20 I 0 providing enough money for another space shuttle flight in 20II, jump-starting NASA's new heavy-lift rocket, and • developing the commercial rocket industry. Starting in 2005, Nelson worked with Republican colleague Mel Martinez of Florida to block oil and gas exploration in the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico. After Republican Gov. Charlie Crist came out in favor of offshore drilling in June 2008, Nelson continued to oppose it. Then, in September 2008, Nelson said he would back a bipartisan deal allowing some offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, provided it was limited to 125 miles, rather than 50 miles, from the Florida coast. Then came the massive BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Nelson joined Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in leading the opposition to expanded drilling along the East Coast and the Gulf. Over objections from Republicans, Nelson also sought to increase the cap on damages from oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion. As a new member of the powerfUl Finance Committee, Nelson emerged as a player in the 2009-2010 health care debate.

Florida seems to have more than its share of disputes over elections. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Nelson objected vigorously when the Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of its national delegates and urged presidential candidates to boycott the state after the legislature set the state's primary for January 29 rather than the earliest date permitted by party rules, February 5. He and Democratic Rep. sued the DNC, but a judge ruled against them. Nelson then pressed for a second primary or a mail-in vote, which the committee refUsed to pay for, and he argued to have half of the delegates seated, which the DNC ultimately agreed to do . •

• • (D- I Jth /FL)

Elected: 2006, 3rd term. Bom: Aug. 20, I966, Miami. Home: Tampa. Education: Emory U., B.A. I988, FL St. U., J.D. I99I. Religion: Presbyterian. Family: Married (William Lewis); 2 children. Elected office: Hillsborough Cnty. Comm., 2002-06. Professional Career: Asst. gen. counsel, FL Dept. of Community Affairs, I99I-94; Practicing atty., I994-2000.

The congresswoman from the I I th District is Kathy Castor, a Democrat first elected in 2006. Castor studied political science at Emory University, earned her law degree from Florida State University and worked as a land-use attorney. Her parents were heavily involved in public service. Her father, Don Castor, sat on the Hillsborough County court for two decades. Her mother, Betty Castor, served in the state Senate, as state education commissioner and as president of the University of South Florida. In 2004, Betty Castor was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, but lost 49%-48% to Republican Mel Martinez. Kathy Castor ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 2000, but two years later won a four-year term on the Hillsborough County Commission.

In the House, Castor has a liberal voting record. From her early days in Congress, she positioned herself • for future roles in the Democratic leadership. She asked Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be appointed as the freshman representative to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which determines committee assignments. Pelosi, surprised because no one had asked her for the position before, promptly gave it to Castor. In 2007, she got choice seats on the Rules and the Armed Services committees. Two years later~ she agreed. to. serve on the ethic~ panel, and subsequently became chair of the subcommittee looking into California Democrat Maxine Waters' alleged efforts to help get federal bailout money for a bank in which her husband owned stock.

Castor was rewarded in 2009 with a seat on the influential Energy and Commerce Committee, where she was among a group ofliberals who insisted that any savings from a government-run public insurance option be used to increase subsidies to low-income people to purchase insurance.

When Republicans pushed in 2008 for increased oil production, she insisted on a permanent offshore drilling ban within I25 miles of the Florida coastline. She became a major player on the issue following the BP oil spill in the Gulf ofMexico in 20IO, prodding the company and the administration for more research on the extent and impacts of the spill. In recent years, Castor took up the issue of increased trade and travel to Cuba. When the Obama administration also embraced the issue, she became the first member of Florida's House delegation in 20I 0 to sign on to a bill lifting travel restrictions to Cuba and sought to add Tampa to the list of airports approved to host charter flights to Havana. • • Francey Youngberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Rdations

Department of Housing and Urban Devdopment

Francey Lim Youngberg is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement (IGAPE) for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is responsible for strategic engagement between the Secretary of HUD and state, local and regional elected officials and key stakeholders to advance HUD programs and priorities. Prior to joining HUD, Ms. Youngberg advised clients on cultural competency, research into Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues, diversity management, minority recruitment, grant writing. grant management, and fundraising. She also worked as a tax attorney for Morgan, Lewis and Bockius and Hogan and Hartson. She was the founding Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies ( APAICS) under the Honorable Norman. Y. Min eta.

Francey attended Wellesley College and proceeded to earn her law degree from Harvard Law School. She • worked as a tax attorney in Philadelphia and DC, and was the founding executive director of APAICS (Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies). APAICS was founded by then Cong. Norman Y. Mineta. Francey dedicated her tenure to increasing the civic engagement of Asian Pacific Americans in public policy and legislative issues.

She left APAICS to become an independent consultant, helping the Smit;hsonian APA Program with their initial five-year strategic plan, and creating a program for the H Street Community Development Corporation which focuses on teaching underserved DC public high school students Chinese language and culture over two years culminating in a two-week educational tour of China. She also advised various federal agencies and the District of Columbia on how to provide better access to government services for limited English and underserved populations. She worked with non-profit agencies in political leadership training, media, and advocacy workshops, and conducting research into Asian Pacific American issues.

Francey was a board member of the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Foundation, on the advisory board of WRC-TV 4, the Asian Pacific American Bar Educational Fund, and the Korean American Coalition. She was recognized as one of the "25 Influential Minority Women in Business" by the Minority Business and Professional Network in 2000; one of the "25 Most Influential Asians in America" by A. Magazine: Inside Asian Amenca in I 997; and one of I 5 "Washingtonians of the Year" by Washington Magazine in I 996 . • • Bill Young (R-IOth/FL)

Elected: 1970, 21st term. Born: Dec. 16, 1930, Harmarville, PA. Home: Indian Shores. Education: St. Petersburg H.S .. Religion: Methodist. Family: Married (Beverly); 6 children. Military career: Army Natl. Guard, 1948-57. Elected office: FL Senate, 1960-70, Min. ldr., 1966-70. Professional Career: Aide, U.S. Rep. William Cramer, 1957-60; Insurance executive.

The congressman from the I Oth District is Bill Young, a courtly and genial Republican first elected in 1970. He is the most senior Republican in the House, and only Michigan Democrats John Dingell and John Conyers have more seniority than he does. He cast his 20,000th floor vote in May 2009.

Young grew up poor in a Pennsylvania coal town. His first home was a shotgun shack that was swept down a river when he was 6 years old. At 16, he was shot in a hunting accident. The family moved to Florida, and Young dropped out of high school to support his ill mother by hauling concrete blocks and mixing mortar. At age 25, he applied for a job as an insurance salesman and ultimately ran a successful insurance agency. In the I950s, he worked for St. Petersburg's first Republican congressman, William • Cramer, and got the politics bug. Young was elected to the state Senate in 1960, at age 29, and back then, was the lone Republican in the body. When Cramer ran for the U.S. Senate in I 970, Young ran for his House seat and won.

Young has a moderate to conservative voting record. He has joined Democrats on legislation to raise the minimum wage and extend unemployment benefits, and championed measures to improve federal responses to oil spills. Early on, he got a seat on the Appropriations Committee, where he, like many Republicans, worked closely with the Democratic chairmen through many years in the minority.

Young by no means ignored his own district or his own self-interest when it came to earmarking. "I try to make sure things that are needed in the whole state of Florida are taken care of," he once said. But he has also not been immune to the ongoing controversy surrounding earmarks, and in 2008, two of his earmarks dinged his reputation for high ethical standards. The St. Petersburg Times reported that he had directed $45 million to defense contractor Science Applications International Corp. after the company hired his 20- year-old son, Patrick, as a security administrator, though Patrick had only a GED and scant work experience. The newspaper also reported that Young had directed $28 million over nine years to another company that had employed another son, Billy Young, 23, for almost a year. The senior Young said that the companies got the earmarks on merit, not because they hired his children. In 2009, Young again came under scrutiny as one of seven lawmakers who steered hundreds of millions in largely no-bid contracts to clients of the lobbying firm PMA Insurance Group while accepting large campaign donations from those • companies. The Ethics Committee cleared them of wrongdoing in 2010. When the Republicans won majority control of the House again in 2010, Young got the chairmanship of the Defense Subcommittee for a second time. In that role, he takes an avid interest in Florida's many military installations. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, across the bay from St. Petersburg, is the • headquarters of Central Command and Special Operations Command. In recent years, he pushed through a $25 million intelligence and operations center and $78 million for a conference center for SOCOM, as well as $3 I million for more family housing. Another of Young's special projects has been the bone­ marrow donor program, originated by Dr. Robert Good of All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. In 2010, Taxpayers for Common Sense reported that Young received $90.5 million in earmarks that he alone requested, more than any other House member that year.

He also pays close attention to veterans' issues. In the 1970s, he persuaded Congress and President Ford to build the Bay Pines Veterans Medical Center in St. Petersburg, now the second largest veterans' hospital. He worked in 2009 to add $20 million to a war supplemental spending bill to assist a private brain-injury center for U.S. troops. Since the Iraq War began in 2003, Young and his wife, Beverly, have visited wounded soldiers almost every week at military hospitals, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital. Sometimes they found care lacking-a soldier sitting in a pool of urine, a sergeant's brain surgery delayed because of malfunctioning equipment-and they regularly complained to Gen. Kevin Kiley at Walter Reed and others officers. In 2007, The Washington Post published a series of stories about wretched conditions at the facility, which led to reforms.

The trend toward Democrats in Pinellas County for years has not posed a threat to Young. Republican redistricters in 2002 made the district more Republican, so that the party could hold it when he retires. He seriously considered stepping down in 2010, but decided to remain. Young's son, Billy, is sometimes • mentioned as a possible successor when his father retires .

• • Bob Gibbs (R-I8th/OH)

Elected: 20 I 0, Ist term. Bom: June 14, 1954, Peru, IN. Home: Lakeville. Education: OH St. U. Agriculture Technology lost., A.S. 1974.. Religion: Methodist. Family: Married (J ody Cox); 3 children. Elected office: OH House, 2003-08; OH Senate, 2008-IO. Professional Career: Technician, OH Agricultural Research and Devel. Center, 1974-78; owner, Hidden Hollow Farms, 1978-2004; owner, Gibbs Enterprises.

The new congressman from the 18th District is Bob Gibbs, who ousted two-term Democratic incumbent Zack Space despite being heavily outspent. Gibbs stressed improving the economic climate for small business in addition to scaling back Big Government. "When I talk to employers at all-size businesses every day, it's all about uncertainty," he said.

Gibbs grew up on the west side of Cleveland, "as far away from agriculture as you can get," he says. But he was drawn to farming at a young age. After working in the garden center of his high school, he enrolled in Ohio State University's Agricultural Institute, becoming part of its first graduating class in 1974. He • met his wife, J ody, through his best friend, and the couple now has three grown children. After college, Gibbs founded Hidden Hollow Farms and served as president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation for two terms starting in 1999. "In agriculture, you have a lot of challenges," Gibbs said. "Every day on the farm, you have chores you have to do. I taught myself how to weld, do electrical work, accounting. There's so much you can do. It's not just the same thing every day." He cites his time on the Ohio Farm Bureau as sparking his interest in politics.

In 2002, Gibbs won a seat in the Ohio House, and he was elected to the Senate in 2008. He has focused on agriculture, small-business, and private-property issues. In 2005, he introduced a bill barring the use of eminent-domain takings for private entities, which allows for the transfer ofland from one private owner to another to fUrther economic development. He also co-authored legislation to cut Ohio's personal income-tax rates by 2I% by 20 I I.

Gibbs and Space attacked each other on climate change, health care reform, and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting gay men and women from serving openly in the military. Republicans also blasted Space for his vote for the 2009 Democratic bill to create a cap-and-trade system to reduce the greenhouse­ gas emissions blamed for global warming. Gibbs said he doesn't believe human activity causes climate change. He has also called for repeal of President Obama's health care law; Space, who voted against the final health care reform package, said he would change some elements of it but did not favor repeal. Space ran ads with footage of Gibbs telling an audience, 'Tm a free-trader," and tying him to trade deals that • have sent Ohio jobs overseas. But Gibbs won easily, 54% to 40% . • Peter DeFazio (D-4th /OR)

Elected: 1986, 13th term. Born: May 27, 1947, Needham, MA. Home: Springfield. Education: Tufts U., B.A. 1969, U. of OR, M.S. 1977. Religion: Catholic. ' Family: Married (Mymie). Military career: Air Force, 1967-71. Elected office: Lane Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 1982-86. Professional Career: Dist. dir., U.S. Rep. James Weaver, 1977-82.

The congressman from the 4th District is Peter DeFazio ( da-FAH-zee-oh), a Democrat first elected in 1986. He grew up in Massachusetts, came to Oregon for graduate school, was a bike mechanic, and went to work for 4th District Rep. Jim Weaver, a Democrat. In 1982, DeFazio moved to Springfield and won a seat on the county commission. When Weaver retired in 1986, DeFazio won his House seat in a tight race. He's liberal on most issues, and moderate on social issues. An original founder of the loose-knit Progressive • Caucus, he has not been shy to express his anger that millions of working Americans suffered during the boom years before 2008. He opposed the Clinton-era North American FreeTrade Agreement and later was a leader in the fight to defeat normal trade relations with China. DeFazio often takes idiosyncratic views. He introduced a bill in 20II allowing people to opt out of the health care law's individual mandate reviled by Republicans-but only if they waived the right to any government-backed medical help for at least three years. He voted against climate legislation in 2009 putting caps on carbon emissions because he said there were better ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as a carbon tax. And he introduced a bill calling for a tax on large stock and derivative transactions that drew predictable enmity from Wall Street and business-minded Democrats. He took the lead in the House effort to permit airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit, and although the Bush administration opposed it, DeFazio won by an astonishing 250-175. The Senate later followed suit. When Democrats won control of the House in 2006, DeFazio took the influential post of chairman of Transportation and Infrastructure's Highways and Transit Subcommittee. He called for taxing oil companies, rather than imposing a gas tax on consumers, after high gas prices prompted people to drive less, with a resulting falloff in revenues in the highway trust fUnd. He was the only member of Congress to oppose the final 2009 economic stimulus bill after backing the original House version, saying it did not sufficiently boost transportation spending. When the newly GOP-dominated committee passed a bill in March 201 I to eliminate the requirement for a Clean Water Act permit for some pesticides, he dismissed it as nothing but "great talking points" because environmentalists' ardent opposition would prevent it from • becoming law . • (R/FL)

Elected: 20 I 0, term expires 20 I 6, I st term. Born: May 28, 1971 , Miami. Home: West Miami. Education: U. ofFL, B.A. 1993; U. of Miami, J.D. 1996.. Religion: Catholic. Family: Married (Jeanette); 4 children. Elected office: West Miami city commissioner, 1998-2000; FL House, 2000-08, speaker, 2006-08. Professional Career: Practicing atty., 1997-2010; prof., FL Ind. U., 2009-IO.

The junior senator from Florida is Marco Rubio, who won a riveting contest in 2010 in an early test of the strength of the fledgling tea party movement. Rubio was mostly brought up in a working-class Cuban­ American neighborhood in Miami, the son of immigrants who left Cuba a few years before Fidel Castro took power. His parents had grown up poor and struggled to make ends meet. His father worked long days as a bartender and his mother was a hotel maid with a second job at Kmart. The family moved to follow work; Rubio spent six years in Las Vegas while his parents worked in the hotel industry before returning to Miami for high school. His upbringing is a cornerstone of his stump speech in public life, and he • frequently references being "raised by people who know what it is like to lose their country." Rubio landed a position at the law firm of Al Cardenas, a prominent Republican he got to know on the campaign. He soon met Jeanette Dousdebes, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, and they married in 1998. That year, at age 26, he ran for city commissioner in West Miami, a tiny, heavily Cuban town just south of Miami Intern~tional Airport, and beat an incumbent. Two years later, he won an open state House seat. Rubio quickly endeared himself to party leaders by working tirelessly on redistricting plans. In 2007, he became speaker of the Florida House, making him the youngest person and the first Hispanic in that position. He toured the state, holding "idea-raisers" with voters to find budget-neutral ideas to improve the state. The 100 ideas he liked best were bundled into a book, which former House Speaker called "a work of genius." Many of the smaller proposals passed easily, but his personal favorite, replacing the state property tax with a sales tax, stalled.

Rubio announced his campaign for the Senate in May 2009. He caught the tea party movement's lightning in its nascent days and used it to power his upstart primary campaign against then-popular Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who had long been planning his bid for the Senate. Rubio declined to join the Senate Tea Party Caucus founded by fellow freshman Rand Paul, R-Ky. "My fear has always been that if you start creating these little clubs or organizations in Washington run by politicians, the movement starts to lose its energy," Rubio explained in a radio interview. Early on, Rubio stuck to his theme of cutting government spending and came out against raising the debt ceiling. In a Wall Street Joumal opinion piece in March 201 I, Rubio wrote, "if we simply raise it once again, without a real plan to bring spending under control and get our economy growing, America faces the very real danger of a • catastrophic economic crisis." • PORT MANATEE CONNECTOR ROAD: The Port Connector Road Project is a vital component to the economic development of West Central Florida. Located in Manatee County, Florida, the Port Connector,will..Qrovide direct access for commerce movement from Port Manatee to Inter . Port Manatee is the closest .Amencan Port to the Panama Canal. The Port as undertaken a significant infrastructure improvement program to prepare itself for the Panama Canal expansion project. The Port Connector is a necessary and m· · · · the intermodallogistics chain to move cargo from the slitp o t e cus omer. ~ The project is currently in the Alternatives Analysis phase of the Project Development & Environmental (PD&E) Study. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) t~has the PD&E Study completion with a Record of Decision anticipated in · afYear (lfY) 2014) At that point, FDOT and its stakeholder partners must decided on a project delivery --either the traditional Design-Bid-Build process or a Design-Build process. Manatee County supports a Design-Build--- Process for the following reasons: • Price Certainty • Agency may avoid conflicts and disputes • Contractor is involved in the design process • Faster project delivery • • Agency needs less technical staff ~ When wilizing the Design Build method for the Port Connector project, tht!~~in FY20 15 is used fbr a~design of the project. From there the Design-Build contractor can work towards complcling the detailed design while the right-of-way acquisition process can proceed on a parallel program fromth_e inform~tionre~e!ved from the 30% preliminary engineering_~~ As the design progresses;more parcels are identified for acquisition. The project is phased so that construction can start earlier, while design is still ongoing. In speaking informally with FDOT staff, Design-Build could shave anywhere from 6 months to 2 years o the total proje t timeframe. The variation in timeframe-iSdepen en upon wh.tc alignment is selecte rom t e PD&E process, the number of parcels to be acquired, and the willingness of parcel owners toward acquisition.

Using the Design-Build approach, the preliminary design is agreed upon by the designer/engineer and customer first. The project cost is determined early in the project timeframe. This method involves the various engineers and construction subcontractors to establish costs up front, identify cost saving/value engineering methods, and compensate for potential material shortages and scheduling requirements. This budgetary cost will control the balance of the design process and ensures that the project drawings and specifications accurately • reflect the requirements, budget and schedule of the customer . • Design-Bid-Build: For the traditional Design-Bid-Build process with the Port Connector, the optimum schedule without delays in any phase of the project would begin with a preliminary engineering phase in FY 2015. The state has committed $4M in the FDOT Five Year Work Program for this. The anticipated timeframe includes a comprehensive two-year design effort in FY 2016 and 2017. Next, a right-of-way acquisition phase lasting at least two years in FY 2018-2019 and finally, a two-year construction phase with construction complete in FY 2021.

Under the traditional method of Design-Bid-Build process, a complete set of documents must be fully drafted, then issued for pricing from all of the various trades. Only at this time can the true cost of the project be determined. Quite often, the drawings result in cost overruns and need to be rethought, redrafted, and once again resubmitted for pricing. This method often leads to frustration, lost time, and additional design fees.

Disadvantages of Design-Bid-Build are:

• Agency get involved in conflicts and disputes • Contractor not involved in the design process • May be slower • Price not certain until construction bid is received • • Agency may need more technical staff

Manatee County, the State of Florida, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and its other stakeholder partners, advocate the advancement of the Port Connector as a vital link to the regional and national commerce network. The Design-Build approach for the Port Connector compresses the timeframe to complete the project. Along with the dock-side capital improvements Port Manatee has undertaken, Manatee County and West Central Florida in an excellent position to capitalize on the increased cargo traffic to be generated by our relationship to the Panama Canal.

• MPO Metropolitan Planning March 1, 2012 • Organization www .mympo.org

Mayor 8hltfoy Groovor Blyant, Chair Senator Bill Nelson Commlsoloner Nora Pattoroon, VIce Chair 716 Hart Senate Office Building W asbington, DC 20510 commlsatoner Joseph Bartlatta saresota COunty Councilwoman Marianne Bamebey Senator Marco Rubio City of Bradenton 317 Hart Senate Office Building COUncilman Jim Bennett Washington, DC 20510 City of Venice

Mayor Rich Bohnenberger Anne Maria, Bradenton Beach & Holmes Representative Vern Buchanan Beach 221 Cannon House Office Building Mayor Shirley Groover Blyanl Washington, DC 20515 CUy of Palmetto

Commlssi01\8r larry Bustle Manatee county Representative Kathy Castor commissioner David Garofalo 137 Cannon House Office Building City of North Port Washington, DC 20515 commissioner DoMa Hayes Manatee County RE: Port Manatee Connector Road to 1-75 COmmlssloner Joe McCiaah Manatee County

commissiOner Nora Patterson Dear Honorable Senators and Representatives: S818110ta County Commissioner Jack Rynerson I am writing on behalf of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning • sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority Organization (MPO) Board comprised of the 15 elected officials of the commissioner Shannon Snyder City of Sarasota Sarasota and Manatee MPO area to support and encourage your assistance commlssloner Jon Thaxton with funding and acceleration of the Port Manatee Connector Road. sarasota County

Vice Mayor Terry Turner City of Sarasota The Port Manatee Connector Road is a critical infrastructure project of national significance also identified as part of Florida's Strategic lntermodal Commissioner Phi» Younger Town of longboat Key System (SIS). This project will add tremendous benefits to not only the Bl»y Hattaway, Olstrtct Seaetary regional transportation netwo~ but economic impact by creating jobs, Florida Department of Transportation facilitating international trade, air quality will be enhanced by quicker truck access to Interstate 75 from the Port and reducing traffic congestion by separating freight traffic from residential traffic.

The Sarasota/Manatee MPO Board voted to include this important corridor addition in its past two federally required Long Range Transportation Plans (LRTPs). The Sarasota/Manatee MPO Board, which represents 11 jurisdictions, including the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport and Port Manatee Michael P. Howe Executive Director Seaport and over 700,000 citizens, strongly support this project.

Sarssota/MSnatoo Motropolltan Planning Organl2aUOn Timing and funding to capture these benefits is critical. The Fedetal Project 78321~ Street Eoot Development and Environment Study will be complete in 2013/2014 and Somaoto, Florida 34243-3248

(941) 369-5772 • Fax(941)359-5779

EmaU: [email protected] Regional Transportatkm Planning for the Sarasota·Bmdeoton Urbanized Area Senators Nelson and Rubio and Representatives Buchanan and Castor • March l, 2012 Page Two

decide the preferred alternative road alignment. FOOT has programmed $4 million dollars for 2014/20 l 5 to commence Preliminary Engineering. Project construction and delivery could be done in a more compressed and accelerated time frame if this project had sufficient funds to produce this project as a design/build project. In other words, the engineering/design/right-of-way and construction would all be funded and flow seamlessly together to complete this critical road connector. Instead of this project taking 6 to 8 years to complete, it could as a design/build be accomplished in 2 to 3 years. The impact of this compressed time frame will be significant in that Port Manatee will be able to provide vital transportation services concurrent with completion of the Panama Canal widening expected in 2013/2014. Port Manatee is the closest deep water seaport to the Panama Canal.

In conclusion the Sarasota/Manatee MPO Board strongly supports the Port Manatee Connector Road and seek your assistance and support for funding to accomplish an accelerated design/build project development and completion . • Respectfully, Michael P. Howe, Executive D rector Sarasota/Manatee MPO

MPH:ne

c. Commissioner Larry Bustle, Chair, Manatee County Port Authority Carlos Buqueras, Executive Director, Manatee County Port Authority Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant, Chair, Sarasota/Manatee MPO

M:\Staff Work\20 12 Staff Work\Howe\Letters\Port Connector Funding • Port Manatee Market Reach and Exposure • Port Manatee is located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico at the entrance to Tampa Bay. It is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal and is located in west central Florida on the Gulf Coast. Eight million Floridians live within a two-hour-drive of Port Manatee and the majority of Florida's nearly 85 million annual visitors are within a three-hour drive.

Distance from Port Manatee To:

Bradenton 12 miles Sarasota 24 miles St. Petersburg 24 miles Tampa 41 miles Lakeland 63 miles Ft. Myers 96 miles Orlando 112 miles Naples 136 miles Miami 249 miles Jacksonville 252 miles Tallahassee 308 miles Savannah, GA 366 miles Atlanta, GA 490 miles Charleston, SC 491 miles Mobile, AL 549 miles Charlotte, NC 636 miles New Orleans, LA 691 miles Nashville, TN 739 miles Richmond, VA 853 miles Washington, DC 963 miles Houston, TX 1,014 miles Indianapolis, IN 1,025 miles Chicago, IL 1,209 miles

Highway Connectivity • Port Manatee offers exceptional highway and interstate connections with 60-mph access to Interstate 75 and Interstate 275. Trucks leaving Port Manatee reach I-75 and I-275 in less than four minutes via U.S. Highway 41 without encountering a single stoplight, putting all ofNorth America at customers' fmgertips without the hassle of time-robbing urban traffic.

Nearby Interstates and Highways

Interstate 4 Interstate 7 5 Interstate 2 7 5 U.S. Highway 41 U.S. Highway 19 U.S. Highway 301

Rail Connectivity

Operating 24 hours a day to accommodate customer needs, Port Manatee's railroad connects to the CSX mainline with a 1,835-horsepower switch engine and nearly eight miles oftrack, 19 switches, nine crossings and 300-plus rail car capacity . • •

2-Hour Drive of Port Manatee

8 million Floridians live within a two-hour drive of fbrt Manatee. .I

., { .'.Fort- ! .I' 3-Hour Drive of Port Manatee

Majorit)' of Florida's approximately 80 million annual visitors are within a ti)ree-hour drive of fbrt Manatee .

• .J'

• Anna Maria Island Shore Protection Project • March 2, 2012 A significant portion of Anna Maria Island's beaches are currently included under the federally authorized program of beach renourishments and are eligible for federal cost share. The Jacksonville District Office of the USCOE, must be funded by Congress to review and approve the necessary studies prepared by Manatee County to prepare these beaches for the 2nd periodic renourishment scheduled to begin in 2015. $100,000 was appropriated by Congress in 2010 for the Corps to begin an evaluation of county-prepared documentation.

In 2011, the President's budget included an additional $100,000 to continue the study effort by the Corps. While the budget documents were not approved by Congress, the Continuing Resolution funding the Corps through the remainder of 2011 included the $100,000 for Anna Maria Island. $100,000 was also requested in 2012 for the Corps to continue their review and approval of plans and general design memorandum documents prepared by Manatee County and this amount was also included in the President's 2012 Budget request.

2012-2013 WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT {WRDA) AUTHORIZATION BILL: It is anticipated that a WRDA Authorization Bill will be written in 2012 which can serve as a vehicle for County requests to pursue the next periodic beach renourishment for Anna • Maria Island in 2014, as a "Section 215 Reimbursement Project." Under authorization written into the 1992 WRDA Bill, local sponsors of beach renourishment projects are authorized to construct shore protection projects for beach renourishment and receive reimbursement of eligible federal costs. In 2002 Manatee County proceeded under the authority of Section 206 to conduct the beach renourishment of Anna Maria Island and was able to save the County and State $1.8 million over projected costs had the project proceeded under federal control.

This project was congressionally authorized in the 1972 WRDA Bill. The Jacksonville district Army Corps of Engineers is proceeding under the written acknowledgment that Manatee County will pursue the second periodic renourishment project scheduled for 2015, as a "WRDA Section 206 Reimbursement Project". Manatee County requests that the Anna Maria Island Shore Protection Project be designated in the 2012 WRDA Reauthorization Bill as a "Section 206 Reimbursement Project", a process made available to local sponsors in the 1996 WRDA Bill.

Prepared by the Twenty-First Century Group for the Manatee County, Florida Board of County • Commissioners. Contact Jocelyn Hong@ (202) 488-2800 or [email protected] Automated Traffic Management System (ATMS) /Emergency Vehicle Routing- $2.500.000 for Programming • In 2009 Manatee County received approximately $8,000,000 through the Economic Recovery and Investment Act (stimulus bill) to complete construction of Phase 2 of the ATMS for traffic signal synchronization of approximately 204 signalized intersections in the Manatee County traffic thoroughfare system. In addition, $250,000 was received with the Transportation Appropriation Bill to augment $1,000,000 of Florida DOT funds, allowing all signals in the Manatee County ATMS network to be fully synchronized.

Staff recommends requesting $2,500,000 in the Transportation Appropriations Bill or other available grant program to furnish and install software for the existing ATMS for routing emergency vehicles through the transportation network. The software will be designed to locate the closest emergency responder unit to a call for assistance received through the 911 Center, calculate the shortest route to the call, and override the synchronized timing of signalized intersections to allow the unimpeded passage of the emergency unit to the call on a bank of successive green lights. Supplemental funding, to be determined, may also be sought from other grant funds . •

Prepared by the Twenty-First Century Group for the Manatee County, Florida Board of County • Commissioners