Urban Sprawl
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…
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…
Florida Sen. Stan McClain comes off as an affable guy — the type of person you might like to get a beer with. But after seeing the legislation he’s filed ahead of the 2026 Legislative Session, you may want to…
If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out the Tampa Bay Times blockbuster two-part series on how Florida’s water quality is getting worse almost across the board — in large part because Florida lets special interests (developers, Big…
Given the continued breakneck pace of growth in Florida, we highly doubt that rogue local government regulators are roaming Florida, coming down like a ton of unjust bricks on the head of poor, persecuted developers. But you might be tempted…
The Florida Legislature is soon in session, and we’d like to think clean water will be atop the 2026 agenda. We’re not putting money on it, though, so we’ll be watching our lawmakers very closely this session – and we…
Every year when the Florida legislative session convenes, we can expect a barrage of bad bills destined to coddle polluters, facilitate ever-more “sprawl” and restrict citizens’ rights to participate in decision-making. The 2025 session lives up — or down —…
For weeks Florida legislators have been meeting in committee, filing and debating bills and preparing for the official start of the 2025 Legislative Session on March 4. This session VoteWater’s Gil Smart will travel to Tallahassee to lobby for clean-water…
County commissioners throughout Florida are constantly being asked by developers to change zonings or amend comprehensive plans, to leapfrog the urban services boundaries and more. As you’ve noticed as you sit in endless traffic, elected officials almost always say “yes”…
Developers, Legislators want to shut you out – and shut you up
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…