Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJuly 27, 2015

For decades, conservatives have lamented federal subsidies in American farm policy accruing to Big Sugar. Strangely, the wailing falls silent south of the Georgia border. In Tallahassee, the glad-handing and back slapping by Big Sugar for its supporters is ubiquitous. The application of sugar money to lobbyists’ and lawyers’ net worth statements, contributions to lawmakers, […]

Guest AuthorJuly 14, 2015

Interested in learning more about the early Native Americans from a site excavated by the Smithsonian? How about the no-name storm of 1928 when more than 2,000 people died in an hour Or a detailed diorama of Belle Glade in the early 1920s? The Lawrence Will Museum, just reopened this May in Belle Glade, should […]

Guest AuthorJune 22, 2015

This year in Tallahassee, there has been no shortage of opinions on how to divide the dollars the Florida Legislature is constitutionally required to spend on natural resources through Amendment 1. Throughout the debate, some have tried to hold our lawmakers to an arbitrary standard, arguing for tens of millions of dollars to be spent […]

Guest AuthorJune 7, 2015

During the 2015 special session, a controversial topic involving Amendment 1 funding entangles a push to purchase land south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Extreme elements of the environmental movement have made it sound as though the simple purchase of one property will “save the Everglades.” If the Everglades ecosystem is […]

Guest AuthorJune 1, 2015

Last month, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) voted to forgo purchasing U.S. Sugar-owned land to build a vital reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). That decision is a setback to Everglades restoration and to communities enduring damaging discharges of polluted Lake Okeechobee water along Florida’s east and west […]

Guest AuthorMay 31, 2015

Last month, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) voted to forgo purchasing U.S. Sugar-owned land to build a vital reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). This decision is a setback to Everglades restoration and communities enduring damaging discharges of polluted Lake Okeechobee water along Florida’s east and west coasts. […]

Guest AuthorMay 27, 2015

In the accompanying picture, that’s me on the left. The year is possibly 1994. I’m standing next to the late Congressman William Lehman from Miami-Dade. Bill Lehman died in 2005. Next to Bill is the civil rights activist and Miami path breaker,Thelma Gibson. The sturdy, imposing African-American to the right was the star of the photograph. Arthur E. […]

Diane RobertsMay 20, 2015

It’s tempting to take a break from the 83-car pileup that is Florida government and amuse ourselves with, say, the festival of unseemliness that is former Congressman Alan Grayson who, when he’s not accusing the Tampa Bay Times’s Political Editor of being a robot with bowel issues (I paraphrase, for which you should thank me), […]

Bruce RitchieMay 1, 2015

Another legislative session dubbed the “year of water” failed to deliver in 2015 as the House went home early over a health care spending dispute with the Senate. HB 7003, a water bill that was a legislative priority of House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, passed the House by a 106-9 vote on the second day of […]

Bruce RitchieApril 30, 2015

The Florida office of a national environmental group on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against federal agencies over protection of an endangered sparrow and Everglades restoration indirectly related to a proposed big land purchase. Environmental groups and some local government officials are pressuring the state to exercise an option to buy 46,800 acres of U.S. Sugar […]

Tag: Everglades

Alan Farago: Big Sugar has conservatives chasing their tails

Catherine Martinez: Glades museum tells tales of Old Florida

Brewster Bevis: Legislature shows leadership by ensuring Amendment 1 dollars benefit everyone

Dan Peterson: Amendment 1 Everglades restoration money more complex than just buying land

Eric Eikenberg: Everglades Foundation still eager to work with Legislature on water storage

Eric Eikenberg: Everglades Foundation still eager to work with Legislature on water storage

Alan Farago: A true story about Art Teele, Big Sugar and Miami-Dade political influence

Diane Roberts: Big Shug and Rick Scott's minions poison land deal and Amendment 1

“Year of water” failed along with most environmental bills

Sparrow lawsuit has indirect link to water storage, U.S. Sugar land purchase