U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently urged U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Stephen Dickson to prioritize Florida airports when it comes to federal infrastructure funding.
In a March 9 letter, Rubio cited Florida’s place as the third most populace state in the country, as well as its growing tourism industry. The senator said the state’s air space was some of the busiest in the country.
“As you know, Florida’s airspace is among the busiest across our nation, and the state is home to dozens of airports with varying scopes of service,” Rubio wrote. “Our airports form an integral part of Florida’s rapidly growing economy and, in particular, its robust tourism industry, which is well on its way to returning to its pre-COVID rate of attracting more than 130 million visitors – both domestic and international – each year. Furthermore, Florida is also the third most populous state in the country and continues to expand as hundreds of thousands of Americans choose to relocate to the state each year.”
Those factors put a massive amount of pressure on the state’s transportation system, Rubio said. Airports across the state have aging and outdated features and need upgrades or replacements.
Rubio asked that Buttigieg and Dickson prioritize Florida airport projects, so they receive “fair and full” consideration when funding opportunities become available.