FLORIDA BUDGET CONFERENCE IN FULL SWING, FATE OF SB 2508 UNKNOWN
This week, selected members of the House and Senate (conferees) began hammering out the differences in their respective budgets. The output of this process will be one combined state budget that will head to Governor DeSantis’s desk.
At the time of this brief, the House has taken up SB 2508 and deleted the entire bill after the beginning clause. We would like to see the Florida House continue to stay strong and refuse to accept any of the Senate’s language in 2508, thereby killing 2508.
BACKGROUND
On February 4th, the Florida Senate filed Senate Bill 2508, a dangerous piece of legislation that poses a major threat to Everglades restoration and clean water progress. SB 2508 was filed as a budget conforming bill in a last minute, sneak-attack fashion, intended to ram the bill through the budget process, short-circuit public engagement, and fast-track it into law.
This piece of legislation should have never been filed as part of the budget process. It included 25 pages of substantive policy changes, such as prioritizing water supply for sugar farms, jeopardizing construction of the EAA Reservoir, giving land-buying powers to the Department of Agriculture, allowing utilities to pay for expedited environmental resource permitting, double dipping of conservation easements and mitigation banking, and codifying a decades-old water rule that gives priority to industrial agriculture water users.
After widespread public outrage and fierce opposition, from Governor DeSantis included, an amendment was offered on the Senate floor that removed some of the egregious language in the bill, however, harmful language still remains and we are calling on YOU to help kill this bad bill for good.
ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN—GET LOUD & STAND STRONG
This process will play out quickly, ending some time before Tuesday, March 8th, for the Legislative Session to adjourn on time on March 11th. With 2508, anything could happen in these negotiations. All the bad language that you helped force out, could get added back in if the Senate’s influence overpowers the will of the House.
This is the home stretch. These next few days are CRITICAL. We must voice our opposition LOUDLY and use every channel within our reach to deliver our united message to the conferees: KILL SENATE BILL 2508.
TAKE ACTION! WE MUST FIGHT TO STOP SENATE BILL 2508
Public pressure is key to killing this bill. We need your help! We’ve made it easy to make your voice heard. Email, call, or post on social—however you choose, just SPEAK UP TODAY! The fate of the Everglades and our coastal waters are on the line.
- Email the conferees – use our easy email tool
- Call the conferees – here are their phone #'s
- Share our Take Action message on social media and make it easy for everyone to urge our Legislators to REJECT SB 2508
This very moment is why Captains For Clean Water exists. We must stand together as a community and take action to protect Florida’s waters against this bad bill.
CAPTAINS FOR CLEAN WATER—TWO POINTS OF OPPOSITION
1) REMOVE THE BUDGET “BOOBYTRAP”
A section of the overall Senate Budget (SB 2500) is written so that if Senate Bill 2508 does not pass, neither does over $320 million in state funding for Everglades Restoration. This is a trick by the bill’s author (Florida Senate) to veto-proof 2508. It forces the Governor to choose between accepting this bad bill from the Florida Senate or give up $320+ million to fix our broken water system.
Exact language change needed (see stricken language below in the Senate’s budget):
1647 GRANTS AND AIDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND NONSTATE ENTITIES - FIXED CAPITAL OUTLAY EVERGLADES RESTORATION FROM LAND ACQUISITION TRUST FUND . . 352,623,196
From the funds in Specific Appropriation 1647, $64,000,000 in 255 FLORIDA SENATE - 2022 SENATE BILL 2500, AS INTRODUCED SECTION 5 - NATURAL RESOURCES/ENVIRONMENT/GROWTH MANAGEMENT/TRANSPORTATION
recurring funds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund is provided to transfer to the Everglades Trust Fund within the South Florida Water Management District pursuant to section 375.041(3)(b)4., Florida Statutes and are contingent on SPB 2508, or similar legislation becoming a law.
From the funds in Specific Appropriation 1647, $256,623,196 in nonrecurring funds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund shall be distributed to the South Florida Water Management District for the planning, design, engineering, and construction of the ComprehensiveEverglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and are contingent on SPB 2508, or similar legislation becoming a law.
From the funds in Specific Appropriation 1647, $32,000,000 in recurring funds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund are provided for the Restoration Strategies Regional Water Quality Plan.
2) KILL SENATE BILL 2508
SB 2508 was amended before it passed out of the Florida Senate and parts of the bad bill were removed. As of the time of this brief, the House has taken up the SB 2508 and deleted the entire bill after the beginning clause. We would like to see the Florida House continue to stay strong and refuse to accept any of the Senate’s language in 2508, thereby killing 2508.
CONTACT — For information and interview requests, contact Alycia Downs, Director of Education & Awareness, alycia@captainsforcleanwater.org.
