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Bill to overturn Key West cruise limits called 'dead' in Florida House

Legislation to overturn Key West-voter approved limits on cruise ships has died in Florida's House of Representatives.

Anne Kalosh, Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

April 27, 2021

1 Min Read
Credit: Seatrade Cruise News

The bill that sailed through the Senate and was advancing in the House hit problems that couldn't be resolved and sank Tuesday after a flurry of last-minute changes.

Time's up

With just three days in the legislative session, there wasn't time to negotiate the changes and bring the bill to a vote in the full House, let alone reconcile changes with the Senate.

Florida Politics, which declared the bill dead, explained how it see-sawed from a narrow focus on preempting the Key West limits to impacting all Florida seaports with a recent amendment.

'Ultimately, the amendment seemed to signal legislation that only affected Key West could not stand up, but a bill that could impact all ports could not get the votes to pass,' Florida Politics concluded.

Pier operator's donation

In another late-breaking twist, it had come out that companies owned by Mark Walsh of the Pier B Development Corp., which operates Key West's Pier B cruise dock, recently donated nearly $1m to Ron DeSantis’ reelection, raising speculation about how the Florida governor might perceive the bill.

David v. Goliath

So the will of Key West voters stands for now.

In a tweet, Friends of the Everglades, which had joined the city's Safer Cleaner Ships and other home rule proponents, called the preemptive legislation a 'true David v. Goliath battle and, this time, David appears to have won.'

About the Author

Anne Kalosh

Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. She created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

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