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Amendment 1 - page 10

Legislators, ignore the Death Mermaid at your peril

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OCCUPIED TALLAHASSEE–When the Death Mermaid shows up, pay attention. Back in 1881, she appeared to Hamilton Disston, warning him against trying to drain the Everglades. Old Ham, never the most emotionally stable of multimillionaires, shut his eyes tight and swore on his mother’s grave he’d stop drinking cologne. In 1969, she scared the feds into killing the Everglades Jetport, a project beloved of South Florida Democrats. It would have been the largest airport in the world and bang in the…

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Senate panel restores affordable housing funds shifted by Amendment 1

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A Senate committee on Wednesday voted to restore funding for affordable housing, as a way to offset the loss of revenue because of Amendment 1. Approved overwhelmingly by voters in November, Amendment 1 provides 33 percent of documentary stamp tax revenue to water and land conservation. SB 586 seeks to redistribute the remaining $1.3 billion in documentary stamp fees for fiscal 2015-16, after $757 million is set aside for Amendment 1. The bill would have reduced the revenue going to an affordable…

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Environmentalists: House budget plan ignores Amendment 1 intent

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A House subcommittee chairman’s proposal for environmental spending ignores the will of voters who supported Amendment 1, environmental groups said Tuesday. “Most of Florida was left out of this budget,” said Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon Florida. He was responding to the 2015-16 environmental spending proposal issued Tuesday by Rep. Ben Albritton, chairman of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee. The proposal will be voted on by the full House Appropriations Committee. Amendment 1, approved by 75%…

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Bond Amendment 1 revenue, free up cash for other enviro projects, says House chair

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A House appropriations subcommittee chair on Tuesday recommended bonding Amendment 1 revenue for land-buying while using a significant amount of the cash from the conservation spending initiative for existing environmental spending, debt service, land management and agricultural water programs. A key issue in the 2015 legislative session is how the Legislature will spend an estimated $757 million from the Amendment 1 water and land conservation spending initiative. Environmentalists expect the measure to boost conservation land buying but House Speaker Steve Crisafulli…

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Is the environment screwed in the House allocations? Maybe, but we don’t know yet

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Wasn’t the environment supposed to get more money under Amendment 1 — not less? Is this the old Lottery-style switcharoo? Those are obvious questions to be asking after the House issued the general revenue allocation on Friday for the 2015-16 state budget. Agriculture and natural resources spending appeared to be taking a hit — at least compared to last year’s allocation. Last year the allocation was $467.8 million for the agriculture and natural resources and a portion of general government. This year the allocation…

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The Day That Was in Florida Politics — March 11

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OK folks, get your notecards ready because it’s going to start getting complicated quickly. When people say politics is all about the money they are right. The only reason the state Capitol represents a village during the 60-day annual legislative session is because billions of dollars are at stake – everyone wants a piece of the pie and the bakers are in the kitchen firing up the oven. Two big issues are starting to roll. What they are depends on…

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Senate panel chairman suggests Amendment 1 backers may have misled voters

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State Sen. Alan Hays on Wednesday sternly informed a Senate subcommittee audience that the Legislature had not neglected the environment in past years, and that Amendment 1 supporters may have misled Florida voters. The ballot initiative, approved by 75 percent of voters in November, provides an estimated $22.6 billion toward water and land conservation over the next 20 years. Hays made the comments while chairing a meeting of the Senate Subcommittee on General Government Appropriations during a discussion of bills…

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