Renzo Downey
The Legislature’s chief budget negotiators agreed Thursday to open eight new full-time positions for highway patrol officers along the First Coast Expressway (FCE).
Once completed, the Jacksonville area expressway will cross parts of Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties. From its current structure between Interstate 10 and State Route 21, it will span across the St. Johns River and reach Interstate 95.
But for now, budget chiefs Sen. Rob Bradley and Rep. Travis Cummings have agreed to pay for one Sergeant and seven troopers along the roadway’s current 46 miles in Clay and Duval counties.
“The FCE is anticipated to be an alternative route for daily commuters and will be critically important during storm-related evacuations,” according to the request’s justification.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) began asking lawmakers last year to expand their force to patrol the new highway, which began accepting tolls in July 2019. However, with unfilled positions last year, the Legislature asked FHP to complete those hires.
Still, FHP demonstrated a need for more patrol officers again this year.
Lawmakers agreed to fund officers on the stretch of road, but the question remained whether to make new hires or divert officers from other regions. Instead of settling the funding source at the negotiation’s first step, lead transportation budgeters Sen. Travis Hutson and Jay Trumbull decided to punt the issue to their respective chiefs.
State budgeters agreed to allocate the eight new positions, the Senate’s proposal, for $1.3 million.
Lawmakers are in the home stretch for the 2020 Legislative Session. House and Senate budget chiefs have been finalizing the fiscal year 2020-2021 outlook and plan to reach a deal by Sunday.
The budget, once brokered, has a two day cooling off period before being finalized. If budget negotiations wrap up on Sunday, that would mean a final vote on the budget would not come until Wednesday as lawmakers are not meeting Tuesday due to Florida’s presidential preference primary.
