Florida Legislature
Today is Day 13 of damaging discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the northern estuaries. On Instagram, our friends at Friends of the Everglades posted video of water rushing through the St. Lucie Lock and Dam with the caption “This is…
VoteWater’s “Dirty Money Project” is making news across the Sunshine State. First, Executive Director Gil Smart’s Oct. 4 op-ed in the Miami Herald explained how “dirty money” to dirty politicians is a root cause of dirty water. Then, just this…
**UPDATED** We goofed! There’s even more Big Sugar campaign cash out there than we thought! Due to a glitch in the search process, we underreported — by more than $1 million! — the amount of money given by Florida Crystals…
If you missed the latest installment from “Seeking Rents” reporter Jason Garcia on how a big Florida homebuilder effectively wrote a new law to build subdivisions faster and cheaper, check it out here. It’s key to understanding how the “sprawl”…
The Aug. 20 Florida primary election is coming up fast. So we’ve compiled the list of candidates running at the federal, state and county level for our eight-county south Florida region; it includes congressional candidates, candidates for the Florida state…
“Dirty money” to dirty politicians means dirty water. But what happens when the “dirty money” — campaign cash from polluters — goes instead to PACs, political action committees? As part of our “Dirty Money Project” we wanted to find out;…
Click here to register for a March 21 livestream looking back at the 2024 Legislative session hosted by our friends at Friends of the Everglades. The 2024 Legislative session is over, thank God. It could have been worse. But it…
The final numbers are in — and they’re big. In 2023, Big Sugar political spending in Florida totaled over $3.6 million, with the vast majority — $2.9 million — coming from industry giant U.S. Sugar. Florida Crystals chipped in just…
We’ve spend a lot of time and space analyzing the dreck oozing from Tallahassee this session, the terrible bills and bad ideas destined to result in dirtier water, more reckless development and more citizen intimidation. This week, let’s take a…
Ever wonder why Big Sugar so often gets its way when it comes to Florida water policy? Part of the answer lies in the number of lobbyists the industry pays to roam the halls of the capitol, sweet-talking legislators. While…