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Bruce Ritchie - page 10

Bruce Ritchie has 127 articles published.

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

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State Sen. Thad Altman is backing up his criticism of Amendment 1 funding in the Senate’s proposed spending plan for 2015-16 with budget amendments to provide $350 million for conservation land-buying. The Senate Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday is scheduled to consider the proposed $80.4 billion Senate budget in a meeting that starts at 1 p.m. in room 412 of the Knott Building. Amendment 1, approved by voters in November, provides an estimated $741.8 million in fiscal year 2015-16 toward water and land conservation…

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Solar amendment backers say they’ve collected enough signatures for Supreme Court review

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Backers of a solar energy ballot initiative said Tuesday they’ve collected enough petition signatures to have the measure reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court. Floridians for Solar Choice says it wants to encourage solar energy production with a constitutional amendment that would prohibit governments or utilities from placing barriers on the sale or distribution of the power. The political committee needs more than 683,000 signatures by Feb. 1, 2016, to put the measure on the ballot. The committee has collected 72,000…

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Senate water bill clears committee with environmentalists and industry groups concerned

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Counties, agriculture, industry groups and environmentalists all were raising concerns Tuesday as a Senate committee passed its first version of a water bill. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and Senate President Andy Gardiner have said passing water legislation is a top priority in the 2015 legislative session. The House bill, opposed by environmentalists, passed the chamber 106-9 on March 5. The Senate bill, SB 918, was amended Tuesday to include portions of the House bill, HB 7003, recognizing in state law…

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Heads up Parrotheads! Jimmy Buffett to appear at Capitol for Everglades Day on April 7

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Heads up Parrotheads! Margaritaville meets Florida politics next week in Tallahassee at the historic Capitol. Jimmy Buffett, accompanied Mac McAnally and Robert Greenidge, will play a short acoustic music set during an Everglades Day Rally on April 7, event organizers say. Buffett, who has developed a legion of “Parrothead” followers, is no stranger to Tallahassee even though it’s far off the path of his beloved Florida Highway A1A along the Atlantic beaches. He campaigned in Tallahassee in October for Democrat Gwen Graham during…

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Bill to exempt use of public space from lobbyist gift ban passes subcommittee

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A House bill that would change the state-lobbyist gift ban to allow specifically local governments to offer meeting space to legislators passed its first committee stop on Tuesday. The Legislature in 2005 cracked down on lobbyist gifts after news reports of lobbyists hosting lavish dinners with legislators to discuss pending bills. The law prohibits lobbyists and the organizations they work for from offering, and a member of the Legislature from accepting, any direct or indirect “expenditure,” according to a Florida Commission on Ethics…

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Cities, counties say bill would stick them with costs for moving roadside utilities

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A Senate bill that shifts from utilities to local government the cost of moving power lines and other utilities in easements for roadway expansions passed a Senate committee on Monday despite opposition from local governments. SB 896 by state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg, was prompted by a dispute between the city of Cape Coral and the Lee County Electric Cooperative. In 2013, the city sued the electric cooperative in an attempt to recoup millions of dollars spent on moving utilities…

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DEO files first challenge to a local government land-use change

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The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has filed what is the first challenge to a local comprehensive plan amendment since sweeping growth management law changes passed in 2011. Legal watchers on both sides of the growth management issue — development and environmental — say the DEO move against the City of Mascotte in Lake County is significant. Business groups and local governments in 2011 supported the growth law changes that sharply reduced state oversight of local development decisions. Environmental groups said…

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