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Guest AuthorMarch 31, 2015

Dear legislator: A number of years ago I was playing golf at Solivita, a community near Poinciana on the Polk County side of Osceola County. The area looked strangely familiar, especially the cypress swamps and pine woods between the holes. As I came up one fairway and looked into an oak hammock, I saw the […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 29, 2015

Words matter, or they should – at least for journalists. Not necessarily for politicians. Case in point: the Florida House leadership saying that it has $205 million in the proposed 2015-16 state budget for Florida Forever, the state’s land-buying program. Nope, not true. In fact, the House budget proposal doesn’t include a single dollar for […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 29, 2015

Words matter, or they should – at least for journalists. Not necessarily for politicians. Case in point: the Florida House leadership saying that it has $205 million in the proposed 2015-16 state budget for Florida Forever, the state’s land-buying program. Nope, not true. In fact, the House budget proposal doesn’t include a single dollar for […]

James CallMarch 27, 2015

This week at the state Capitol ended with House Republicans taking Democrats to school. There were four education bills advocated by the GOP on the agenda for a Friday session. All easily passed since Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-1 in the Florida House. Thursday, Democrats argued against mandating that school districts share construction and renovation money […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 27, 2015

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Conservationist Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, biologist Joe Guthrie and photographer Carlton Ward Jr. sat secluded while eating lunch in the back room of a Tallahassee restaurant on Thursday, unaware that rain that had begun pouring down outside. A week earlier they would have been out in the weather while hiking, bicycling, paddling and camping on a […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 26, 2015

A proposed House committee bill being considered Thursday would require state park managers to allow “low-impact agriculture” on parks and allow adjacent landowners to acquire state land. The House State Affairs Committee, meeting at 1 p.m., will consider proposed committee bill SAC 15-02. In 2013, HB 33 by Rep. Jimmie T. Smith, a Republican from […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 25, 2015

A Senate budget amendment that would have provided $350 million for land-buying was withdrawn Wednesday but the senator who sponsored it said it could come back. In November, 75 percent of voters approved a ballot initiative called Amendment 1 that provides an estimated $741 million in fiscal 2015-16 for water and land conservation. The proposed Senate budget […]

Bruce RitchieMarch 25, 2015

Sen. Thad Altman is backing up his criticism of Amendment 1 funding in the Senate proposed spending plan for 2015-16 with budget amendments to provide $350 million for conservation land-buying. The Senate Committee on Appropriations is scheduled Wednesday to consider the proposed $80.4 billion Senate budget. Amendment 1, approved by voters in November, provides an […]

Melissa RossMarch 24, 2015

Add Jacksonville’s North Florida Land Trust to the chorus of outrage over the Legislature’s proposal for the Amendment 1 budget. Amendment 1 passed overwhelmingly in November. The measure is designed to dedicate 33 percent of revenue from excise taxes to protect the state’s land and water resources. Now environmental groups like the NFLT are furious that […]

Peter SchorschMarch 23, 2015

Sometimes, the little bills are the good ones. Sometimes, the bills that don’t involve eye-catching headlines or involve hot-button issues like guns on campus, how to use Amendment 1 money, or who should check the genitalia of folks using the bathroom, often get little notice. It’s that way with the effort to ban Palcohol. On one hand, […]

Tag: Amendment 1
Police unions are standing tall for Rosie Cordero-Stutz.

Rick Dantzler: Dear legislator, where will Fla. kids learn to hunt and fish?

Bruce Ritchie: Is House giving Florida Forever $205 million? Nope

Bruce Ritchie: Is House giving Florida Forever $205 million? Nope

The week that was in Florida politics — March 27

After 1,000-mile trek, trio meets with legislators to talk conservation

Rewind to 2013: House bill would allow adjacent landowners to acquire state land

Budget amendment for land-buying withdrawn but may be back, senator says

Senate budget amendment would provide $350 million for land-buying

North Florida Land Trust howls over Amendment 1 funding

Powdered alcohol … the next date rape drug?