BRADENTON, Fla. - Florida legislators
The grass-roots water and land conservation initiative requires, through a voter-approved constitutional amendment, that lawmakers dedicate 33% of Florida's documentary stamp tax on real estate for acquisition and management of land to protect wetlands, fish and wildlife habitat, drinking water, beaches, shores, and the Everglades.
State economists forecast that the tax could raise more than double what environmentalists predicted when the initiative launched several years ago.
Program funding begins July 1, the first day of fiscal 2016, and leaves lawmakers little time during this year's session to structure the new program.
The law authorizes bond financing, but it was unclear during a Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation meeting Wednesday if members would consider using debt.
Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said the amendment does not restrict lawmakers to spending the funds on land acquisition. He said a dictionary definition of financing means "to spend money on, that's all it requires."
Simmons also said he believed the law gave legislators broad discretion in determining how to spend the money.
"I think that to get a complete picture we need to understand that in this current budget year we have, in addition to whatever amount comes from doc stamps, we have $505.7 million in general revenue that's going for environmental purposes also," said Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla.
Hays did not specify what projects he considered to be qualified as environmental in nature, though another committee member suggested that amendment one funding could be spent on wastewater treatment to prevent water pollution.
Many programs receiving revenues from the general fund that would not be considered qualified expenditures under the new law, cautioned Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida, a member of the coalition that sponsored Amendment 1.
Draper gave the committee a handout outlining certain programs that could receive conservation funding in fiscal 2016 if lawmakers decided there wasn't enough time to fully implement the program this year.
The outline set aside funds for debt service on outstanding conservation bonds, beach management, Everglades estuary programs, land acquisition and management, protection of springs, and purchase of conservation easements on agricultural lands.
David Cullen of Sierra Club Florida told the Senate panel he was heartened by the commitment of members who spoke of designing the appropriate program.
Cullen also said he is concerned that lawmakers not use Amendment 1 funds to supplant revenues for programs traditionally funded in the state budget.
"Doing this right is very important to us," he said.
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, an advocate for protecting springs, echoed the concern about maintaining traditional state budget funding for programs such as sewer and septic systems. "The funding the Legislature already allocates should not be replaced with these dollars," she said.
The committee should consider programs that the state already funds, and determine if they are effective, said Chairman Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness. He said the committee has a "long program ahead" to make decisions about how amendment one funds should be spent.
Dean also urged people to forward suggestions and comments to the committee via the website.
Committees are currently in pre-session meetings. The Legislature meets March 3 through May 1.
Amendment 1 was passed by 75% of voters. In 2009, as state revenues declined from the economic downturn, lawmakers suspended funding for environmental programs.
