Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Scott PowersOctober 2, 2018

Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto of Celebration is tops of his freshman class when it comes to getting bills proposed and laws approved, according to a new report from an analytics company that tracks Congress. In the term that began in Janaury, 2017, Soto sponsored and introduced 29 bills, and two of them were enacted […]

Jim RosicaMay 4, 2018

As a May 25 deadline to complete discovery approaches, depositions continue in a lawsuit over how the state funds environmental conservation. Court dockets viewed Friday show a flurry of notices filed late last month for what are called “depositions duces tecum,” which compel witnesses to produce documents and be interviewed before a trial. Environmental advocacy groups […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 28, 2017

A Tallahassee judge has set a trial week in a lawsuit over the state’s environmental funding under a constitutional amendment passed almost three years ago. Circuit Judge Charles Dodson scheduled a weeklong bench trial for next July 23-27, with a pretrial conference set for June 15, court records show. Discovery in the case was ordered finished […]

Staff ReportsMay 3, 2017

Sen. Rob Bradley isn’t giving up hope the 2017-18 state budget will include money for the Florida Forever conservation lands program. POLITICO Florida reported Tuesday that Bradley said the budget would include spending for Florida Forever, for Florida Keys wastewater projects, his proposed projects along the St. Johns River, and Senate President Joe Negron’s proposed […]

Scott PowersApril 17, 2017

Saying that conservationists’ efforts apparently are dead this year to get funding routed for preservation as Amendment 1 voters expected, Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart said she’s organizing support now for next year. That begins with state Sen. Rob Bradley, the Orange Park Republican who chairs the SenateAppropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources, she […]

Staff ReportsNovember 21, 2016

Duke Energy Florida Inc. hopes to make its power lines friendlier to birds. The company is undertaking a pilot program featuring redesigned electric transmission lines deemed less likely to zap our fine feathered friends into oblivion. That will entail replacing horizontal lines with vertical or stacked models, and replacing some poles to achieve better spacing. “The […]

guestMay 9, 2016

“Buy the land, send the water south” has become a rallying cry for Florida activists looking to return the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades. This mantra tells me history has been forgotten and common sense ignored. My fear is this mindset is tied to buying more land that would put rural […]

Jim RosicaApril 26, 2016

More than 5,000 acres in St. Johns County have been set aside for conservation. Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved spending nearly $6 million toward the wooded land. State officials want to add the tract to the St. Johns River Blueway Florida Forever project. The move is supported by conservationists. The North Florida Land Trust’s Jim […]

Melissa RossFebruary 18, 2016

This week in Jacksonville, former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham rallied people upset with the Legislature over Amendment 1 funding by telling them to get vocal and train to become citizen-activists. “We have an organization called the Florida Conservation Coalition, and its purpose is to try to get citizens involved,” Graham said during an […]

William MarchFebruary 15, 2016

Environmental groups contend that the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature is again snubbing voters who want the state to purchase conservation land. They contend the budget proposals the Legislature is now developing violate Amendment 1, passed overwhelmingly in 2014, directing that a third of the revenue from documentary stamp taxes on real estate transactions go to buy […]

Tag: conservation

Report: Darren Soto tops in freshman class in bills introduced, laws passed

Amendment 1 lawsuit still moving toward trial

Environmental lawsuit over ‘Amendment 1’ funding set for trial

Report: Rob Bradley says 2017-18 budget will include money for land conservation

Linda Stewart gathering support for Amendment 1 funding next year

Duke Energy Florida modifying power transmission lines to protect birds

Gary Ritter: State should complete its water projects before buying more land

Rick Scott and Cabinet OK land buy in St. Johns County

Bob Graham rallies Amendment 1 supporters to become “citizen-activists”

Groups upset with legislators over land conservation