Guest commentary: SCCF provides legislative update for Week 9
Updates from the ninth week of the Florida legislative session included:
– House/Senate budget negotiations extended through June 6 to negotiate the final budget
– Preferred Parks Protection Bill (HB 209) passed
– House removed harmful “auxiliary container” language on incinerator bill (HB 1609), Senate reattached amendment, House again rejected the amendment while the Senate “insisted on concurrence.” The bill failed as the House adjourned before voting on it a third time.
It was the last scheduled week of the legislative session. However, a budget deal between the House and Senate was not reached and the session was extended through June 6. Legislative leadership announced on May 2 that the regular business of the session would end and budget negotiations will continue on May 12, following a weeklong break.
UNUSUAL SESSION EXTENDS BEYOND 60 DAYS
Florida legislative sessions are scheduled for 60 days and rarely exceed that time frame. This legislative year started with two special sessions and now includes an extended session due to a budget agreement stalemate.
With legislators planning to return in mid-May to finish their budget negotiation process, the question remains about the extent to which the negotiations will impact the funding of each body’s specific policy priorities. House Speaker Daniel Perez has stated his intention to rein in wasteful spending and cut what he deems to be unnecessary expenditures.
Senate President Ben Albritton has been clear about his priority to fund a “rural renaissance” that would modernize education, health care and commerce initiatives for rural areas. Once members of the House received the plan, they significantly altered the policy/funding package until it was almost unrecognizable. Similar disagreements about spending priorities and what constitutes acceptable uses of taxpayer dollars have played out throughout the session.
Reality has set in, and both the House and Senate leadership have announced they have reached an agreement on a framework for a budget deal. Albritton and Perez announced on May 2 after 10 p.m. they would be approving a $2.8 billion dollar tax cut, the largest in Florida history.
From here, legislators will return on May 12 to complete the “allocations process,” which will hammer out the specifics on how the cuts will be met in the larger budget silos of education, human services, criminal justice, natural resources and general government.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) will continue to advocate on behalf of funding for Everglades restoration and conservation land acquisition as the budget process continues into May. Protecting our natural spaces, environmental resources and America’s Everglades has one of the largest returns on investment and is a safe investment for the future of Florida.
A state budget must be passed and sent to the governor in time for the beginning of the fiscal year that starts on July 1.
WINS FOR OUR REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS
– State Land Management (Parks Protection Bill)
Passed: SB 80 by Sen. Gayle Harrell was the initial bill thought to be the vehicle by which our legislators would answer the call from Floridians to “Save our State Parks” from the egregious golf course and large-scale lodge construction proposals from last summer. The House responded with an even more protective bill than the Senate version, removing some concerning language that could have left a door open to interpretation on future development in our parks.
It came down to the wire but, ultimately, both chambers were supportive of closing any loopholes in the effort to protect the natural jewels of our state, as they agreed upon and passed the House version of the bill, HB 209.
The bill will be sent to the governor for his signature.
OTHER BILLS THAT IMPACT NATURAL RESOURCES
– Waste Incineration (with Auxiliary Containers Amendment)
Failed: HB 1609 was filed as legislation to address a Miami-Dade incineration siting issue. It became a vehicle for a very controversial auxiliary container bill (SB 1822) once the issue was amended onto the bill by the Senate.
The House rejected the auxiliary container amendment that would preempt local government pollution control efforts. However, on May 2 — the scheduled last day of the session — the Senate refiled the amendment to impose a ban on local control regarding auxiliary containers, which the House again rejected. The Senate passed (retained) the amendment and the re-amended bill was sent back to the House for consideration.
The bill ultimately failed because session had adjourned before the House could vote on the bill a third time.
The SCCF will work with our statewide advocacy partners to introduce solutions that will address this inequity in state law as it relates to plastics pollution.
– Vessels (Boater Freedom Act)
Passed: SB 1388 — this governor’s priority is being referred to as the “Boater’s Freedom Act,” but in practice, it will free bad actors to flout important environmental protections. The bills aim to make law enforcement’s job more difficult when interacting with boaters by requiring “probable cause” to make safety checks and ensure that people aren’t poaching in Florida waters.
Fisheries management relies on adhering to size and catch limits, and individual poachers can have an outsized impact on a species population if they target the wrong organism. Currently, our law enforcement officials are empowered to ensure boaters follow the regulations, but this bill will remove key enforcement abilities.
The House had to “waive the rules” to pass the bill since the House version (HB 1001) was never heard or debated in committee.
– Land Development (formerly Mitigation Banks)
Passed: SB 492 saw its scope expand during the legislative process, which typically means that other issues will be tacked on before its final passage. In the case of SB 492, the Senate amended-on liability protections for the phosphate industry, but that language was rejected by the House, and the final bill was ultimately passed by the Senate without the initial amendment.
The bill allows for mitigation to occur outside of a project’s watershed basin, and for unfinished mitigation banks to award up to 60% of their credits before the ecosystem function has been certified.
The bill is a detrimental environmental policy that creates an imbalance of protections and incentivizes unsustainable overdevelopment.
Visit the 2025 SCCF Legislative Tracker at https://sccf.org/what-we-do/2025-legislative-session/.
Holly Schwartz is policy associate for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF). Founded in 1967, the SCCF’s mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.