Articles

Wilson: Help cruise industry

Florida Politics / April 1, 2020

The $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill spread around significant sums to individuals, state and local governments and businesses, both large and small. Among those not seeing relief is the cruise industry, something Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson would like to see rectified in future bills.

During House negotiations on the bill, Wilson advocated for the cruise industry to receive assistance. She plays a vital role in the Florida Ports Caucus, which she helped launch in 2013.

"We're looking for the next package that perhaps we will be able to get some sort of relief in there for the cruise industry," Wilson said.

Wilson said there were those among her Democratic colleagues "who are anti-cruise ship, but being anti-cruise ship is different from being anti-people who work on the cruise ship and who are part of the community where the cruise ship is a robust engine for our community."

The relief bill contained provisions for assistance to large businesses and troubled industries for U.S.-based companies. The cruise lines' registry made them ineligible.

While three major cruise lines are headquartered in Miami, namely Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines, they are all registered in other countries and claim exemption from U.S. income taxes.

"We're concerned about the workers who work for the cruise industry," Wilson said. "There are thousands of them who live in Miami, who live in Florida."