Florida Legislature

These incumbents were reelected with no opponents – but plenty of money

June 18, 2026

Due to the fact they had no competition — either in the August primary nor the November general elections — several south Florida lawmakers have already been “reelected.” From the Miami Herald: “In Miami-Dade County, incumbent Republican Reps. Demi Busatta…

Good news for homeowners could be bad news for our water

June 11, 2026

The Florida Legislature last week passed a revised version of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ property tax cut plan, sending a proposed constitutional amendment to the November ballot. If 60% of voters approve, it’ll be a windfall for homeowners — and a…

Would the Legislature really shortchange the EAA Reservoir?

May 21, 2026

You figure the Florida House has to be playing games. As Legislators continue to wrangle over the state budget, one nut proving hard to crack is funding for CEPP — the Central Everglades Planning Project which includes the vaunted EAA…

VoteWater endorses Jose Javier Rodriguez for Florida Attorney General

April 2, 2026

VoteWater, a South Florida clean-water advocacy group, has endorsed Jose Javier Rodriguez for Florida Attorney General. “We’re proud to endorse Jose Javier Rodriguez,” said Gil Smart, VoteWater Executive Director. “As a member of the Florida Legislature, he stood up to…

Rural Florida: Pave it or save it?

March 19, 2026

The Florida Legislative session just wrapped, and what started out as the “Session of Sprawl on Steroids” ended with a bit of a whimper as some of the worst pro-development bills were either sanded down before passing or — like…

The ‘dirty money’ behind ‘Blue Ribbon Projects’ paves the way for development of rural Florida

February 26, 2026

State Rep. Lauren Melo wants you to know she loves wild Florida. Growing up, the Naples Republican used to hunt quail and learned to drive a “three on the tree” gear shifter in the wide-open spaces. As she told the…

WHO DECIDES?: Lawmakers push bills to override local communities

January 29, 2026

You think you know what’s best for your community? Lawmakers in faraway Tallahassee disagree. Indeed, this year there are multiple bills in the state Legislature with a single goal: Taking power away from local communities. Some of them involve straight-up…

Sprawl, powered by ‘dirty money’

January 22, 2026

State campaign finance data for the fourth quarter of 2025 has dropped, and initially we were going to write about how much Big Sugar gave last year. And in fact, we WILL write about it, right here: According to the…

Developers, Legislators want to shut you out – and shut you up

January 15, 2026

The Florida Legislature is now in session. What could possibly go wrong? In fact, the sheer number of bad bills filed this year is stunning. Many involve attempts to push more “sprawl” through the pipeline with less public oversight. There…

Florida agriculture bills could help Big Sugar intimidate critics

January 8, 2026

Look, you know how the game is played. Special interests call the tune, your legislators dance; they file bills written by and for deep-pocketed donors. And as you’ve heard us say so many times over the years, few donors have…

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