Guest commentary: Legislative session adjourns
After a 45-day legislative session extension, following the contentious 60-day regular session, the Legislature adjourned last week passing a $115.1 billion budget.
Although this budget is $3 billion smaller than the current state budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to find additional savings through the veto process. The extended session shortens the amount of the time the governor has to decide which funding items will be vetoed as the budget must be finalized by the July 1 beginning of the fiscal year.
A popular guide that may be used to inform the governor’s veto choices is the “Turkey List” released every year by Florida Tax Watch, a independent, non-profit government watch-dog group based in Tallahassee.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) will post the governor’s veto list as soon as it is available on our 2025 Legislative Tracker as https://sccf.org/what-we-do/2025-legislative-session/.
EVERGLADES RESTORATION, LAND ACQUISITION
Everglades restoration fared well in the recently passed budget and includes up to $800 million for multiple projects that will impact the Greater Everglades System.
Despite its commitment to conservation in the Everglades, the Legislature chose to almost entirely defund the Florida Forever land acquisition program. The Senate had remained committed to funding the program with a $100 million appropriation, but the House removed all funding. The budget compromise resulted in $18 million being earmarked for the program — a far cry from previous permanent funding commitments that included Senate Bill 1632, approved legislation from 2023 that committed at least $100 million per year for Florida Forever and the 2024 Seminole Gaming Compact dedicating revenues to preserve and protect Florida’s environment, including Florida Forever. The lack of funding also does not appear to fulfill the will of the 75% of voters that approved Amendment 1 in 2014.
Despite the lack of funding for land acquisition, the Legislature argues that it has not abandoned its commitments to preserving future conservation lands because of its allocation of $250 million to the Florida Rural and Family Lands Program. The program targets farm lands within the Florida Wildlife Corridor and provides payments to farmers to continue farming on their land rather than selling to developers. The program pays landowners to place a conservation easement on the land with the restriction that prevents the sale of the property for development. This approach does present the positive outcome of supporting Florida’s farmers with the intent to continue crop and food production while allowing wildlife to pass through less intensely developed land. However, while conservation easements are useful tools, it is important that they are used in conjunction with land acquisition, not as a replacement.
Legislative budget leaders further defended their land acquisition funding decisions by saying that Florida should move away from owning conservation land because of the maintenance costs. However, by supporting such an unbalanced land preservation funding approach, lands are not protected for public access. Farm lands supported by the Rural and Family Lands program are not accessible to the public for recreation, they do not provide the same habitat benefits, and they continue to be intensively farmed, which negatively impacts the quality and quantity of our water. Severe cuts to the Florida Forever program may also jeopardize ongoing discussions and agreements made to purchase future conservation land with the dollars that had been previously dedicated to increasing public landholdings. When the question is put to the public on the ballot, there is continually overwhelming support for lands to be acquired and held in the public trust for the benefit of future Floridians.
The SCCF will continue to strongly advocate for full funding of Florida Forever, as acquiring unspoiled parcels protects important land from being lost to sprawl, holds and naturally filters stormwater runoff, guards against flooding, and protects us from storms, preserves wildlife habitat, supports biodiversity, and provides recreation and opportunities for tourism.
SCCF will include a full breakdown of the approved natural resource funding once the governor has signed the budget.
ASK GOVERNOR TO VETO TWO BAD BILLS
Now that the session has formally adjourned, the risk of any concerning language being added to the budget is over. We still have the opportunity to appeal to the governor to veto two very bad bills that did pass. On June 19, the Legislature released Senate Bill 492 — Mitigation Banks and Senate Bill 180 — Emergencies to the governor for his signature. Together, they represent the worst environmental bills of the session.
If you haven’t already done so, please join the SCCF in calling for vetoes on these bills by visiting https://p2a.co/ISepCXv and https://p2a.co/LR59LMu.
Founded in 1967, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s (SCCF) mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.
To reach SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, please email