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Lake Okeechobee - page 3

Budget deal would include Lake O plan, lower property taxes for schools

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House and Senate negotiators have agreed on the broad outlines of a new state budget, and were haggling over the details before appointing members to conference committees, Senate President Joe Negron said Wednesday. “We’ve reached an agreement on the substance of the budget, and we’ve also reached agreement on a way that we can get to conference,” Negron told reporters. “These are complicated issues, and so we’re in the process of completing a document that sets forth all of the…

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Florida Forever bill could affect Everglades reservoir plan

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A bill that looks to “un-muddy” the mission of Florida’s main environmental land acquisition program could potentially affect the plan for an Everglades reservoir. A House bill brought forth Monday by Rep. Matt Caldwell, a Republican with close ties to House leadership, was passed unanimously by a House panel. Caldwell wants to alter what projects are eligible for money under the Florida Forever Program and put more money into land conservation. But the measure would also remove funding allocations for…

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Rick Scott endorses water storage south of Lake Okeechobee, but not buying land

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Gov. Rick Scott endorsed a key element of Senate President Joe Negron’s Lake Okeechobee plan Monday — storing and treating water south of the lake — and called upon the House and Senate to invest $200 million in repairs to the Herbert Hoover dike. Scott said during a news conference that the state can afford the repairs because of the $1.5 billion the Trump administration has provided to reimburse hospitals for charity care. “With this additional funding, we now have…

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Senate approves plan to fix Lake Okeechobee, end algae invasions

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Senate President Joe Negron’s $1.5 billion plan to fix Lake Okeechobee, and stop overflows of toxic “guacamole water” into the state’s rivers and streams, passed the Senate Wednesday on a vote of 36-3. Last June’s overflow of toxic algae blooms, which devastated tourism and sickened many people, and prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency, is forcing the state’s hand, bill sponsor Rob Bradley argued. “I promised my constituents that we would dramatically expand southern storage by…

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Joe Henderson: Rick Scott’s approval rating climbs because the economy trumps everything

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The steady increase in Gov. Rick Scott’s approval rating has reinforced the notion that if voters have a job and the economy seems to be humming along, other things don’t matter much. The latest poll, released this week by Morning Consult, put Scott’s approval number at 57 percent. Considering that he stood at 26 percent in 2012 according to Public Policy Polling, that’s downright miraculous. That same PPP poll five years ago included a forecast that Scott would lose a…

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Jack Latvala argues revised Lake Okeechobee project defangs its critics

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If House leaders really oppose special interests they’ll support the Lake Okeechobee plan the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Wednesday, chairman Jack Latvala said following the vote. “When you hear their stated objections that they’ve made publicly, it’s always had to do with losing jobs or the amount of bonding involved,” Latvala told reporters. “We’ve pretty much removed those stated objections. Now it’s just going to have to come down to whether they’re going to follow the will of the special…

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Joe Negron’s Lake Okeechobee plan clears Senate Appropriations Committee

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Senate President Joe Negron’s ambitious water-quality plan survived a more-than-two-hour hearing before the Appropriations Committee Wednesday, clearing the panel against only two dissents. The $1.5 billion bill would begin planning to build reservoirs and water treatment facilities south of Lake Okeechobee in hopes of avoiding repeats of June’s disastrous algae bloom in South Florida waterways. The “No” votes came from Sens. Jeff Brandes and Denise Grimsley. “I am very grateful for the input from my colleagues, constituents and fellow citizens across…

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