Florida Legislature
The “Session of Sprawl” is upon us. With nearly a month to go before the 2023 Legislative session officially begins, several bills have already been filed which, if passed, will supercharge sprawl across the entirety of the Sunshine State. These…
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Executive Order 23-06, issued Jan. 11, was a watershed moment in the history of Florida water politics — no pun intended. It laid out what DeSantis characterized as a sweeping agenda to clean up Florida’s troubled waters,…
When it comes to water quality issues, we’re always leery of putting too much faith in the Florida Legislature. Time after time, we’ve watched bad bills sail on through. Proposals like last year’s Senate Bill 1000 (which will allow citrus…
Happy 2023 from VoteWater, where we’re confident the new year will bring tidings of comfort and joy — and lousy ideas, bad bills and terrible initiatives courtesy of the Florida Legislature. In fact, we’ve already identified our first Bad Bill…
The 2022 general election has come and gone; how, ultimately, will it impact Florida’s troubled waters? We’ll find out soon enough. Two VoteWater endorsed candidates prevailed last night; Congressman Brian Mast won re-lection to his 21st District seat; in the…
Republican Congressman Brian Mast and Lindsay Cross, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 60, were endorsed this week by the environmental advocacy group VoteWater. “Brian Mast has been an absolute warrior when it comes to clean-water issues on the Treasure…
“So you gotta hang on ‘til tomorrow,” sang Little Orphan Annie. Unfortunately, too many Florida decision-makers seem inclined to sing along. Last month a statewide coalition of environmental groups including VoteWater issued a “report card” showing “Florida leaders have failed…
Out-of-control development, poor water quality, dead seagrass and dying manatees were not inevitable in Florida. It didn’t have to be this way. But it IS this way due to specific decisions made by elected leaders and bureaucratic officials who act…
The counterattack was inevitable – and utterly predictable. While the billionaire sugar barons haven’t deigned to comment on the “No Big Sugar Money” campaign which launched last week, they’ve sent their surrogates out to spin. Predictably, it’s been picked up…
Florida Sportsman publisher – and VoteWater Board President – Blair Wickstrom makes the case: In 2020 alone, Florida’s sugar industry — the home of Big Sugar — put at least $11 million into congressional campaign coffers. This happened on both…