TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida may finally hand out millions of dollars given to the state for damages related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Florida House on Thursday voted unanimously for a bill that would guarantee that $300 million be distributed to eight Panhandle counties that were hardest hit by the spill.
Legislators previously passed a law that created a non-profit corporation to administer any economic damages awarded to the state. But House Republicans have pushed to place new limits on how the money can be spent.
The bill (HB 7077) would spell out that the money cannot be spent on any local economic development projects. So far the Senate has refused to go along with that prohibition.
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