Wasserman Schultz Looks to Secure $55 Million for South FL Courthouse

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has announced that she has "rallied" members of the  South Florida delegation in order to request over $50 million in the next fiscal year for a new federal courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale, citing both unsafe and financially burdensome conditions of the current courthouse.

In a letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Wasserman Schultz mentions that the U.S. District Court in the area is one of the largest in the country and that the repairs for the current building already need $20 million in maintenance.

“The current 40-year-old federal courthouse is both unsafe and a financial burden. The building is plagued by mold, chronic roof leaks, persistent flooding, significant space constraints, and $20 million maintenance backlog…Failure to act now will result in project delays of more than 18 months. The current design-build bids are set to expire on December 31, 2022. If the bids expire, revised bids will reflect even greater increases in the cost of labor,” she and other Florida Democrats wrote.

The jurisdiction in which this courthouse resides accommodates over a million Floridians and 10,000 civil cases a year.

Wasserman Schultz, alongside her colleagues in South Florida, then writes “GSA has stated that a $55 million appropriation in the FY23 omnibus is the agency's preferred funding path and would allow the agency to award the construction contract before the bids expire. GSA has provided written documentation showing the precise funding needs. We cannot allow this project to be delayed further and spend more federal dollars fixing a broken asset,” in the letter.

Alongside Wasserman Schultz, Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), and Rep. Elect Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) all signed the letter.

“It’s crucial that Republicans join us at the negotiating table to pass a funding bill before the end of the year so projects like these can happen for our communities,” tweeted Wasserman Schultz.