Guest commentary: SCCF provides update on extension of legislative session
Over a month has passed since the scheduled May 2 end of the legislative session, when they passed a resolution to extend the session through June 30 due to a budget negotiation impasse.
After a break, our legislative leaders were back in Tallahassee last week negotiating the funding levels for the 2025-26 state budget with budget conference committees having been assigned to negotiate the large silos, such as health care, education, criminal justice, transportation and the environment. The conference committees will hammer out the funding differences between the House and Senate budget proposals, and any unresolved items will be bumped up to the House/Senate Appropriations Committee chairs and, ultimately, to the House Speaker and Senate President if necessary.
The Legislature is planning to vote on the budget by mid-this week with an eye to ending the extended session by June 18.
The budget must be passed and sent to the governor for his signature before the beginning of the Florida fiscal year, which starts on July 1, while also giving him time to review the budget and make any line-item vetoes.
SUPPORT FUNDING FOR FLORIDA FOREVER
Included in the budget negotiation is the funding for the Florida Forever land acquisition program. The Senate has remained committed to funding the program at $100 million, but the House has zeroed out that budget. Just two years ago, the Legislature committed to annually fund Florida Forever, yet now the House is backing away from that commitment.
State budget negotiators are also seeking to roll back $633 million of previously approved funding for Florida Forever and the Florida Communities Trust, which was previously committed to land acquisition in the Florida Wildlife Corridor. According to Sen. Jason Brodeur, chair of the Appropriations Conference Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government/Agriculture and Natural Resources, the shifts were necessary to meet evolving priorities within the state’s budget, reflecting the dynamic nature of legislative appropriations and fiscal planning.
Abandoning existing negotiated agreements on conservation land is particularly egregious and undermines the state’s credibility to negotiate future conservation efforts. Land acquisition and efforts to secure large-scale conservation easements are more important than ever. Florida’s population is still growing with estimates between 800-1,000 people moving here per day — that’s the equivalent of adding a new town to our state every week. With that migration to Florida comes the loss of open space to build more homes and infrastructure to accommodate that growth.
Acquiring these 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.
Please join the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) in supporting full funding for the Florida Forever program by letting the legislative budget leadership know that land acquisition is vital to our economy, our health and our quality of life.
To take action, visit https://p2a.co/Vtngvzp.
PUSH TO COLLECT PETITIONS BEFORE CHANGE
The SCCF opposed House Bill 1205 — Amendments to the State Constitution — this session because of the obstructive demands that will be placed on collecting constitutional amendment ballots. The Florida Right to Clean Water ballot initiative is racing to collect as many signatures as possible before HB 1205 becomes law in July. Right to Clean Water organizers have filed preliminary injunctions against HB 1205 which, when enacted, will effectively end the campaign with confusing and severely restrictive ballot collection requirements.
SENATE BILL 492
Senate Bill 492 — Mitigation Banks — which passed this session, changes the current wetland mitigation banking system.
Currently, mitigation banks are required to restore habitat and sell credits within a specific watershed, at minimum, for flood protection, water retention, filtration and habitat benefits.
SB 492 upends those minimal benefits and allows for the sale of credit before the habitat in a mitigation bank has even been restored, as well as allows credits to be bought and sold at far distances from the watersheds that are being impacted. This leaves certain areas overdeveloped and without all of the protections provided by wetlands.
SB 492 also creates an uneven balance of destroying wetlands before the ecosystem function of the mitigation bank has been completed. Communities will be left with increased traffic, further lack of green space and an increased risk of flooding.
The bill is an undisguised subsidy and incentive for developers without the consideration for sustainability or balance in our already over-developed communities.
Please join the SCCF in asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto this very harmful bill.
To take action, visit https://p2a.co/ISepCXv.
SENATE BILL 180
Senate Bill 180 — Emergencies — was passed this session with the stated goal of improving emergency management and disaster recovery efforts following the three hurricanes that impacted Florida in 2024.
While the bill contains some helpful storm recovery benefits, it also contains very damaging policies that prohibit local governments from adopting new plans or codes that could be considered “more restrictive or burdensome” unless developers agree to the change. The bill would be retroactive to Aug. 1, 2024, and would apply to any county or municipality that falls within 100 miles of landfall of a hurricane.
As of June 6, the bill had not yet been signed by the governor, but if it does become law, it would make resiliency planning and water quality protections in Florida much more difficult to enact.
One example of a conflict created by the bill is the Manatee County Commission’s proposal to restore increased wetland buffer requirements to its building code. The bill would prohibit the county from including added wetland buffers that would assist in the prevention of flooding, protect property from storm surge and contribute to water quality improvements.
It is more than troublesome that a bill designed to assist communities after a hurricane would prevent sustainability-related improvements that could improve local resilience to future storm events and mitigate the damage associated with them.
Please join the SCCF in asking the governor to veto SB 180 and to encourage our elected leaders to bring back the good elements of the bill, without the very damaging provision to limit local governments from addressing the resiliency needs of their communities.
To take action, visit https://p2a.co/LR59LMu.
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.