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Matt Caldwell - page 9

House-Senate healthcare fight nastily playing out on the Twitters

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The intense intra-cameral friction that defined the 2015 legislative session seems not to have dissipated after a few weeks off but rather compounded, culminating in the most antagonistic legislative hearing of the year at Tuesday’s meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee. There, budget chief Tom Lee led a chorus of indignant senators who excoriated AHCA deputy director Justin Senior for allegedly evading Senate staff and showing favor to the House’s position on the revamped FHIX 2.0 healthcare expansion plan later approved by the committee. Charges of malfeasance,…

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House water bill language finds a new home as session winds down

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Language from a comprehensive House water bill was added on Thursday to other environmental legislation in the House over objections from Democrats. But the water bill language lacks key components of the Senate bill that is important to that chamber’s leadership, raising questions about whether the move represents gamesmanship between the two chambers. And some environmentalists say they’d prefer to see the bills die, effectively ending what some observers predicted would be the “year of water” in the Legislature. HB…

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Springs bill in Senate disappoints some environmentalists

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Last year a comprehensive water bill that passed the Senate included a major focus on Florida’s springs and reducing threats from groundwater pollution and over-pumping. Florida’s springs during the past 30 years have turned green with algae because of nitrogen in groundwater from various sources including septic tanks, fertilizer and sewage treatment plants. Fixing the problems cost lots of money, and preventing further pollution requires regulations that are unpopular with rural landowners. The 2014 Senate bill, SB 1576, established springs…

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Amended state lands bill passes committee, heads to House floor

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A bill that would allow the Cabinet to give away state land passed its only committee stop on Tuesday with changes requested by environmental groups. HB 7135 would establish “low impact agriculture” as a management goal for state lands. The bill also would allow the Cabinet to give away state parks and other state lands to adjacent landowners under an agreement to conserve both properties. State Rep. Matt Caldwell, a Republican from Fort Myers, said the bill would allow the…

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Audubon’s Eric Draper says Legislature ‘out of sync’ with voters

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Eric Draper of Audubon Florida told a television audience during a weekend broadcast that legislators are showing they are “out of sync” with voters who supported Amendment 1. Seventy-five percent of voters in November approved the funding initiative, which provides an estimated $742 million for water and land conservation in the 2015-16 state budget. Environmental groups say the House and Senate have ignored the intent of voters in their spending plans. The House approved perhaps $10 million for land acquisition…

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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 “low-impact agriculture” 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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AIF group lauds passage of Florida House water bill

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The Florida H2O Coalition — a water policy vehicle backed by Associated Industries of Florida — applauded today’s action by the Florida House of Representatives to pass HB 7003, a sprawling piece of water legislation aimed at protecting ecologically sensitive waterways. “Today, the Florida House took a giant step forward in adopting a policy that will better prepare Florida for current and future water challenges,” said AIF Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs Brewster Bevis in a Thursday statement. “HB 7003 creates…

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