NEW STATE SECURITY LAW IS HEAVY BURDEN FOR PORTS

Some 60 percent of the drugs confiscated in the United States are
captured at Florida ports, so there may be good reason for state
lawmakers to demand tougher security measures.

But the legislation adopted by the Legislature last session and
signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush is all too typical of a state
government that likes to take responsibility for good ideas and then
push the costs onto others.

This law, whatever its merits, constitutes another of the
Legislature's unfunded mandates.

The measure will require picture identification for all port
employees, fingerprint-based background checks, access gates at
entrances, additional security personnel, video surveillance,
10-foot-high barbed-wire fences around certain areas, increased
lighting, and X-ray machines and metal detectors at cruise terminals.

The estimated cost of implementing all this for the state's 14 ports
is $34 million. As Tribune staff writer Andrew Meadows found, the
Port of Tampa will need to spend $6 million solely for a checkpoint
at its main entrance.

The overall cost of implementing all the required measures at Tampa's
port, including doubling its security force, will be more than $15
million. The requirements also will add $2.2 million to the port's
annual personnel and supply outlays.

And how much did lawmakers allocate to the effort? A grand total of
$7 million - $1.5 million to be used for background checks, another
$5.5 million to be divided among the state's ports.

Local taxpayers and tenants will have to make up the difference. The
Tampa Port Authority levies a property tax of 29.5 cents per $1,000
of appraised value. The tax money can be used only for infrastructure
work.

Jim McDonough, the director of the state Office of Drug Control
Policy,. who pushed for the security measures, said the additional
spending should be considered an investment because "if you have a
secure port, and a cleaner port, you can attract more business."

The response ignores the complexities of trade decisions. When
companies consider utilizing a port, a lot more factors are involved
than barbed wire fences and video cameras.

This doesn't mean the anti-smuggling measures are not worthwhile.
Curtailing the illegal drug trade would unquestionably benefit
society. But to act as if the costs involved are insignificant is
disingenuous and unfair.