Frankel gains clout on Everglades, port legislation

South Florida Congresswoman Lois Frankel will get a chance to sway the final results of a major nationwide water-projects bill that includes funding for Everglades restoration and, potentially, expansion of Port Everglades.

 Frankel, a freshman Democrat from West Palm Beach, was named to a conference committee of House and Senate members who will thrash out a compromise bill that reconciles different versions passed by each chamber.

That gives her a chance to fight for provisions she and fellow Florida members injected in the House version to authorize spending on four Everglades projects, including construction of a water conservation area in western Broward County.

Frankel also persuaded House leaders to include language in the bill that would allow Broward County to be reimbursed for initial spending on a project to expand Port Everglades once it is cleared for construction by the Army Corps of Engineers. The port is eager to deepen its waterways to 50 feet to accommodate the giant ships that will pass through a widened Panama Canal.

The final compromise bill must be approved by the House and Senate.

All these projects are expected to generate thousands of jobs.

"This bill is about jobs for South Florida,” Frankel said, “and I am honored to serve on the conference committee to promote our ports and restore our most precious wetlands, the Everglades.”