Greetings!
Welcome to Capital Watch, Florida Wildlife Federation's weekly update on legislative activities concerning issues of conservation.
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Capital Watch 2007
Week Seven - Ending April 20
Jay Liles, FWF Policy Consultant
With two weeks left in the regular session, the intensity level has ratcheted up somewhat as it becomes clear that there is much left to accomplish and little time left to do so. Property tax reform has been the major issue dominating this session and resolution seems no clearer than it did at the end of the first week. The House and Senate remain far apart on the issue which, as I reported last week, tends to impact other legislation we are working on. The good news is FWF's issues, like land conservation, hunting and fishing fees and permits, climate change and energy legislation are poised to move to the floor for debate.
This past week was highlighted by the FWF/NWF Global Warming Lobby Day at the Capitol. We were very pleased to have the participation of our Board Chair Steve O'Hara, Vice-Chair Ann Vanek-Dasovich, Board Members David White and Capt. Dan Kipnis, and Florida Sportsman Magazine Managing Editor Terry Gibson who all did a great job educating our legislature on global warming and energy legislation. Our thanks go to these folks who have taken so much of their personal time to be a part of the FWF advocacy effort.
On Wednesday, April 18 the House Environment and Natural Resources Council passed the Florida Climate Action Partnership. Steve O'Hara took the opportunity to provide the committee with important information about climate change gathered from our members and other sources and thanked the sponsor of the legislation for addressing this critical issue. As we have previously reported, the public/private, high level group envisioned by the Climate Action Partnership will focus its work on Florida's response to Global Warming and how we can mitigate its impacts. Later in the day, Steve and his fellow board members were able to meet with Governor Charlie Crist's senior staff regarding the Partnership bill and energy legislation in general. We anticipate further dialogue and input as they grapple with these weighty issues.
On Thursday, April 19 the Senate Finance and Tax Committee passed SB 1982 providing for increased user fees for hunting and fishing. The bill has now been referenced to Senate General Government Appropriations where a positive vote would set the stage for a hearing before the full Senate. FWF was successful in getting an amendment on the bill to tie future increases in fees to the Consumer Price Index. Increases in permits has been deleted from the House version (HB 7173) which means final language may come down to which bill is adopted by conferees in negotiations. FWF continues to support SB 1982 in the Senate because it holds the CPI language and increases permits to $10.00.
In the waning days of this legislature, bills have come to light that would expedite road building and greatly ease the burden on those who would propose new toll roads to prove the financial viability of their "roads to nowhere". According to CS/SB 2804, The Florida Turnpike Enterprise's current "Financial Feasibility" test, which requires that proposed new turnpike segments produce 50% of their bond debt service in 12 years and 100% payment of bond debt by the 22nd year of toll road operation, would be changed to a far more lenient 30 year projection. SB 2804 also authorizes $9 BILLION in Turnpike Enterprise bonds (currently capped at $4.5 billion) to build new roads. CS/CS/HB 985 would encourage real estate development as a means to finance or supplement revenue for toll road construction. FWF and others in our community believe this bad legislation would effectively move control of growth management to the purview of the Dept. of Transportation rather than the Dept. of Community Affairs. We are working with a coalition of groups who will oppose this effort.
You can learn more about the specifics of each bill in the "Bills to Watch" section.
FWF Policy Consultant
We have created a list of the priority issues the Florida Wildlife Federation is determined to have heard this year. Many of these issues are, or will be, addressed in one or more bills. Some have no bills filed as of yet but may appear in the form of spending bills (appropriations) or amendments.
UPDATED! Under the heading "Bills to Watch" we have included a list of bills already filed. It is this section that will undergo the most change as we proceed through the legislative session. Please click on this link each week to see the update list.
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