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Amendment 1 - page 8

Senate boost for land-buying praised while House Democrats question spending

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Environmental groups praised a Senate move on Wednesday to add $35 million in the state budget toward land acquisition but said the amount still falls short of what voters wanted. Amendment 1, approved by 75 percent of voters in November, now is estimated to provide nearly $742 million for water and land conservation programs. Environmental groups sought $170 million for the Florida Forever land-buying program and said the proposed House and Senate budgets ignored voter intent. The Senate version of…

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz rallies Florida Democrats for second half of Session

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Senate Democrats kicked off the second half of the 2015 legislative session with a pep talk from Democratic National Committee Chair and South FloridaĀ U.S. Rep.Ā Debbie Wasserman Schultz. In a pre-floor session huddle Schultz said she came to bolster their efforts to uphold ā€œthe will of the votersā€ on both Medicaid expansion and the spending of Amendment 1 money. The Senate will consider an amendment by state Sen. Thad Altman directing more than $300 million toward land buying for conservation. However,…

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With Senate budget amendments teed up, calls flood senators

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Amendment 1 supporters on Tuesday were flooding senators with calls urging them to support funding for land-buying in advance of Senate floor action on the state budget on Wednesday. In November, 75 percent of voters statewide supported the water and land conservation funding initiative that provides an estimated $741 million in the 2015-16 state budget. The proposed Senate budget provides $2 million for the Florida Forever land-buying program and another $20 million for land acquisition for Kissimmee River restoration. On…

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

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Words matter, or they should ā€“ 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 stateā€™s land-buying program. Nope, not true. In fact, the House budget proposal doesnā€™t include a single dollar for Florida Forever, in my opinion, although it seems to have some for land acquisition. How much? We canā€™t be sure. Florida Forever actually is a…

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

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A proposed House committee bill being considered Thursday would require state park managers to allow ā€œlow-impact agricultureā€ on parks and allow adjacent landowners to acquire state land. The House State Affairs Committee, meeting at 1 p.m. today, will consider proposed committee bill SAC 15-02. In 2013, HB 33 by state Rep. Jimmie T. Smith, a Republican from Lecanto, also would have allowed an individual or corporate landowner to acquire state land by asking the Cabinet to approve a swap for…

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North Florida Land Trust howls over Amendment 1 funding

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Add Jacksonville’s North Florida Land TrustĀ to the chorus of outrage over the Legislature’s proposal for the Amendment 1 budget. Amendment 1 passed overwhelmingly last November. The measure is designed to dedicate 33 percent of revenue from excise taxes to protect the state’s land and water resources. But now environmental groups like the NFLT are furious that the Senate is proposing to spend $714.2 million on Amendment 1, which is about $58 million less than the House proposed and $43 million…

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Powdered alcohol … the next date rape drug?

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Sometimes, the little bills are the good ones. Sometimes, the bills that donā€™t involve eye-catching headlines or involve hot-button issuesĀ like guns on campus, how to use Amendment 1 dollars, or who should check the genitalia of folks using the bathroom often get little notice. Itā€™s that way with the effort to banĀ Palcohol. On oneĀ hand, powdered alcohol is kind of cool. Take a glass of water, add the powdered mix, add crushed ice and some salt on the rim and voila,…

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