The Legislature will now break for the holidays and return for the official start of the 2018 Legislative Session on January 9th.

Here are some highlights from the final committee week:

SB 370, Senator Bradley?s measure to dedicate $100 M annually to the Florida Forever Trust Fund, passed its 2nd committee stop: the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources. It has one more committee stop before hitting the Senate Floor: the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Senator Bradley himself.


Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

Another bill by Senator Bradley, SB 204, which would increase annual funding for springs restoration and dedicate funds from the LATF for the St. Johns River or the Keystone Heights Lake Region, also passed through the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources. It too has only the Appropriations Committee left before reaching the Senate Floor.

HB 145 would allocate LATF funds for a pilot program focused on mitigating the negative effects of invasive species on public lands and waters. When the bill was originally filed it included a requirement for pet dealers to PIT tag certain invasive species before selling them to the public. The bill was amended to remove this requirement in the House Natural Resources and Public Lands Subcommittee last week. The subcommittee passed the bill, but had many questions about the removal of this requirement from the bill language.


Photo by John Hanusek on Unsplash

A bill that would require local governments to consider the increasing use of electric vehicles in their long-range transportation plans, SB 384 by Senator Brandes, passed its first committee. It has 2 remaining committee stops in the Senate.

To see how other environmental legislation is faring and learn about new bills that have been filed, including a bill (HB 791) that seeks to arbitrarily cap the number of rules in the Florida Administrative Code, see the FCC?s full legislative update here.

The Legislature is headed home now, and I will soon be doing the same to celebrate with my family. May you have a joyous holiday season, filled with laughter and loved ones.

When the new year comes around, we?ll be ready to make 2018 a landmark year for Florida?s environment!

Sincerely,
Gladys
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