Senate Slashes Budget for Florida Forever Despite Mandate from Voters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2015
Media Contact: Will Abberger, (850) 222-7911, ext 23



Senate Slashes Budget for Florida Forever Despite Mandate from Voters

Proposed Amendment 1 budget reduces funding for popular conservation program by 84%


Tallahassee, FL (March 19, 2015) - Today the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government released its proposed budget, including spending for Amendment 1, the Water and Land Conservation Amendment.

The Senate’s proposed budget includes just $2 million to fund land acquisition under Florida Forever. That would be an astonishing 84% cut from last year, before Amendment 1 passed, which was a clear call for increased spending for conservation.

The approval of Amendment 1 changed the Florida Constitution to direct 33% of documentary stamp tax revenue to the state’s Land Acquisition Trust Fund.

“The intent of the 4.2 million voters who voted Yes for Amendment 1 was clear: fund the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for the acquisition of parks and natural areas,” said Will Abberger, chair of the Amendment 1 sponsor committee. "The Senate’s budget proposal appears to ignore the very reason that Florida voters approved Amendment 1.”

The Senate budget also appears to include funding for agency operations and other expenditures that should not be funded from Amendment 1.

“We are deeply disappointed by this proposal,” said Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director of Florida’s Water and Land Legacy, the sponsor committee for Amendment 1. “There’s no way that anyone could have read the Amendment and consider this budget to be adequate.”

Amendment 1 dedicates 33 percent of doc stamp taxes for the next 20 years to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. Amendment 1 was the citizens’ reaction to the drastic funding cuts to Florida Forever, a widely popular conservation program.

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Florida’s Water and Land Legacy (“FWLL”) is the sponsor committee of Amendment 1, the Water and Land Conservation Amendment. FWLL drafted the Water and Land Conservation Amendment, collected nearly 1 million signatures to place Amendment 1 on the November 2014 ballot, and ran the successful voter education campaign that resulted in an overwhelming 75 percent approval of Amendment 1. FWLL was formed in response to severe cuts to popular and effective state conservation programs like Florida Forever and Everglades restoration. FWLL Steering Committee members are: 1000 Friends of Florida, Audubon Florida, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Defenders of Wildlife, Everglades Foundation, Florida Conservation Coalition, Florida Land Trust Alliance, Florida Wildlife Federation, League of Women Voters of Florida, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Sierra Club, The Conservation Fund, and Trust for Public Land.



Download the above press release, Senate Slashes Budget for Florida Forever Despite Mandate from Voters, as a .pdf here.

http://floridawaterlandlegacy.org/se.../page/presskit