Bank of America gifts $250,000 to Brevard Zoo for future aquarium at Port Canaveral
Bank of America East Central Florida has donated $250,000 to build the future Bowen Aquarium and Conservation Center at Port Canaveral.
The Aquarium is part of the East Coast Zoological Foundation, which owns and operates Brevard Zoo.
Bank of America's donation supports the zoo's $100 million community fundraising effort to build the aquarium, expected to break ground this year, with an anticipated opening in 2027. The aquarium will span 14 acres of shoreline along the Banana River.
The project is expected to create more than 900 jobs and engaging at least 525,000 visitors annually.
The aquarium will focus on coastal conservation, environmental education, and rehabilitating imperiled marine species statewide.
To date, zoo officials said the five-year campaign has raised more than 86% of its goal in its first three years.
Florida House Tax Plan Threatens to Eliminate Tourist Development Councils
The Florida House’s proposed $5.4 billion tax break package includes a controversial measure to eliminate the state’s 62 Tourist Development Councils (TDCs), redirecting the $1.8 billion they generate toward reducing property taxes for homeowners.
Currently, TDC funds are used to promote tourism through local festival advertising, convention center financing, fishing pier construction, beach access improvements, and post-hurricane recovery campaigns—efforts widely credited with bolstering Florida’s economy.
While the proposal faces steep odds of passing, it has sparked concern among tourism officials across the state. These councils are funded by taxes on hotel stays and short-term rentals and are seen as essential to maintaining Florida’s tourism appeal.
As lawmakers race toward a May 2 adjournment—with the state budget still unresolved—balancing tax cuts with economic priorities remains a key point of contention.
House Halts Hope Florida Probe
After weeks of investigation, a Florida House panel is halting a probe into a foundation linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ signature economic-assistance program, Hope Florida.
State Representative Alex Andrade, who chairs the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, announced the decision after the Hope Florida Foundation’s lawyer and leaders of nonprofits that received five-million-dollar grants from the foundation refused to appear before the panel.
Andrade has spent weeks scrutinizing the foundation’s receipt of 10 million dollars as part of a legal settlement with Florida’s largest Medicaid managed-care company.
Andrade feels the money transfers may have been criminal but says his committee does not have the power to prosecute the case.
“There was a culture of deception, incompetence and a treatment of taxpayer funds as if it was their own kind of personal piggy bank. That just guides our role and responsibility as legislators going forward. I’ll leave the rest of the investigation up to the FBI and the Department of Justice.”
Andrade says his panel will continue to dig into the DeSantis administration’s spending and other issues when lawmakers return to Tallahassee for committee meetings this fall.
News from Tallahassee.
WFIT’s Rick Glasby has a summary of how various legislative proposals are faring in Tallahassee:
The Florida House passed the e-Verify measure, but the bill looks dead in the Florida Senate.
- The Florida Senate ok’d a ban on oil exploration and drilling near the Apalachicola River.
- The Florida House passed a condo bill despite criticism from Gov. DeSantis.
- The Florida Senate is backing away from a proposed bill that would increase speed limits on Interstates.
The Florida legislative session is scheduled to end May 2nd.
More: www.floridatoday.com
