Capital Watch 2007
Week Nine - Ending May 4
End of Session Report
Jay Liles, FWF Policy Consultant
Preston Robertson, FWF VP & General Counsel

It is over! The 2007 Session came in like a freight train and left with little of its promised steam. The final week of session was typical in that a number of important bills remained on the calendar, even into the final day. However, it was made anti-climactic by the mid-week announcement that the House and Senate could not reach agreement on the property tax package that had stymied them throughout the session. Instead, a special session has been called for the week of June 12 to try to complete the property tax issue. So it was that late afternoon Friday the two chambers gaveled to a close the regular session.

There were many high points in the 2007 Session. Most notable was the spirit of cooperation and openness this year. This was exhibited by the number of meetings held with high level staff in the governor's office, in the negotiations held with legislative leaders and the attention given to issues of importance to the environmental community. No, it was not all a bed of roses. That is apparent in some of the bad legislation we will reference later. However, for those who have worked these halls over the past several years, the spirit of cooperation was markedly improved. Access to leadership was much better and the whole tenor of the process was much more democratic.

The only bill any legislature must pass is the budget. Unlike the previous legislature, the 2007 Legislature found itself facing significantly diminished revenue projections. Programs were cut and every new expenditure faced intense scrutiny. FWF and our partners in the Florida Forever Coalition came into the session seeking an ambitious increase in funding for Florida Forever. Instead, we found ourselves fighting to keep the same $300 million program and felt fortunate that there was no cut. Even Governor Crist's request for $400 million fell on deaf ears. Senate President Ken Pruitt, has assured those of us who fought so hard to increase spending for public lands that he will work with the coalition to expand funding next year and set the stage for a successor program prior to 2010.

Other highlights from the $71.9 billion budget include:

• Energy Efficiency, Conservation and Renewables - $68 million
  
• Everglades Restoration - $100 million
  
• Lake Okeechobee and Estuaries - $100 million
  
• Alternative Water Supply - $ 60 million
  
• Clean up of polluted lakes, rivers and streams - $21 million
  
• Other Water Projects (sewer and water systems) - $153 million
  
  Specific clean water projects include:
  
  

1. Indian River Lagoon - $17.2 million
   
2. Lake Worth Lagoon - $ 3.5 million
   
3. Lower St. Johns River - $12.0 million
   
4. Loxahatchee River - $ 3.2 million
   
5. St. Lucie River - $ 5.7 million
   
6. Unfortunately, no funding for the Lower Keys project
   
   

In both the Appropriations Act and under separate legislation, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) saw a much needed boost in its budget. As we have reported all session, the Federation was a leading advocate for an increase in FWC funding, including efforts to pass a long-overdue increase in hunting and fishing license fees and permits. Final passage of the bill did not include our suggested increase in certain permits, the link to the Consumer Price Index for future increases, or funding for youth hunting and fishing education. These provisions died when the House Bill (HB 7173) was substituted for the Senate Bill. However, the funding does hold the promise of better resource protection and wildlife management for all Floridians. Our thanks go to the many allies who wrote to their legislators in support of this legislation. Special thanks to FWF Board Member Lou Dombrova for his leadership, patience and unflagging support on this issue. Read more about this bill in the "Bills to Watch" section.

FWF worked with a number of our community partners on legislation to address Florida's role in Global Warming and to move the state to a clean and sustainable energy future. The session began with high expectations as the Governor used his State of the State Address to urge the legislature to begin mitigating the impacts of climate change and pass an omnibus energy bill. Early success of a bill to establish the Florida Climate Action Partnership did not carry over to the end as time ran out on the proposal. However, we have the assurance of the Governor's Office that he will work with interested groups to craft an executive order accomplishing this task.

As with the Global Warming package, the Legislature lost much of its steam with energy legislation in the closing days of session. We did achieve modest headway with funding for alternative energy tax credits, the initiation of a greenhouse gas inventory and funding for the Farm-to-Fuel Grants Program. The bill (HB 7123) creates an Energy Policy Task Force, increases sales tax exemptions for ethanol fuel and biodiesel distribution, establishes incentives for selling biofuel, and requires state buildings to meet certain energy-efficient standards. Even in this watered-down final version, FWF was encouraged by the positive tone this sets for the future and the ongoing debate that has shifted focus from the science of Global Warming to what we can do to mitigate and adapt to the impacts.

The final weeks of the session were spent fighting a series of bills that started out as relatively innocuous then became very problematic as amendments were added. The Transportation and Growth Management packages stand out as just such a case. CS/CS/HB985, passed on the final day of session, authorizes $10 billion in Turnpike Enterprise bonds (currently capped at $4.5 billion) to build new roads. The bill would encourage real estate development as a means to finance or supplement revenue for toll road construction. Private companies could lease toll roads for a period of 50 to 75 years and regularly increase tolls with inflation.

FWF believes this bad legislation would effectively place the Department of Transportation in the role of directing growth management rather than the Department of Community Affairs. Working with our allies, we were able to delete changes to the current "Financial Feasibility" test, which would have set a far more lenient 30 year financial projection test. FWF is joined by a number of conservation advocates who oppose the manner in which this bill became law and would like to see the Governor veto it. We will likely seek a veto, but this is difficult because it is a major transportation bill.

Of importance to most areas of the state has been the spread of regional transportation authorities. Having a potentially destructive impact on Northwest Florida is the newly created Northwest Transportation Authority (NWTA). Established in 2004 to address emergency evacuation routes, the NWTA has expanded its purview to include commercial development routes like those envisioned in proviso language of the Appropriations Act that call for the Authority to oversee planning and development of bridges over Choctawhatchee and /or Santa Rosa Bay. The TA has expanded this authority without legislative oversight until now and is seeking to create roads for development without prior land use planning. The proviso language points out the pitfalls of such a power grab. Eastern Choctawhatchee Bay is one of the undeveloped natural areas considered a potential home to the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Moreover, the TA has depicted corridor routes which bisect M.C. Davis' Nokuse Plantation. This huge property is the recipient site for threatened gopher tortoises and provides critical habitat linkages to other protected lands. Scientists are currently combing the woods of the bay to look for evidence of this bird, long thought extinct. This area is also home to America's elite military at Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base. Rampant development threatens to make these facilities less desirable for operations centers and may ultimately lead to their closure. FWF has indicated to Secretary of Transportation Kopellosous our concerns and desire to see greater oversight and more public input to the Transportation Authority before these proposals take a life of their own.

This year's Growth Management legislation (HB 7203) took a decidedly negative turn when it was amended to provide that Broward and Pinellas counties and their municipalities, as well as Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa and Hialeah, would be given exemption from required state Department of Community Affairs' Comprehensive Plan reviews for three years. FWF joined other conservation groups in opposing the more onerous sections of this bill, however, final passage came on one of the last bills to be considered in the 2007 session. Once again, we may seek a veto of this bad initiative.

We have been tracking a number of bills all session. If you would like to know the final results on any of these, please see the Bills to Watch - Final Action Report. Please note that some bills have been added to other legislation by amendments. We will have to wait until the final language is presented before we will know if all legislation is either passed or not. In the coming weeks we will continue to report on the final results and offer our view on whether or not the Governor should allow certain bills to go forward.

The Florida Wildlife Federation wants to thank the many members and activists who responded to our Florida Wildlife Action alerts. You helped stop bad legislation and made some legislation better. We also owe a debt of gratitude to our conservation allies including The Nature Conservancy, Audubon of Florida, 1000 Friends of Florida and Surfrider International among others who fielded a staff of professionals to take on the task of advocating for what is in the state's best interest. Thanks also to Lester Abberger, whose insight and experience assisted us in countless ways. We also want to thank the Board of Directors of the Florida Wildlife Federation, many of whom took their own time to advocate for our cause. Special thanks go to Steve O'Hara, Ann Vanek-Dasovich, Lou Dombrova, Dan Kipnis and David White for making the effort to attend the session and speak on behalf of our issues. We appreciate all you do to help save Florida's wildlife and wild places.