Florida’s annual legislative session ended March 13 with the feeling that the state’s natural environment dodged a bullet.  Some bad bills did make it through due to the sheer volume of damaging legislation proposed this session. But several of the worst bills died, while others were stripped of their most objectionable provisions. A bright spot: The Legislature enacted new rules to curtail Governor DeSantis’ spending of emergency dollars on the ICE detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” which has inflicted real harm on the Everglades.  Though regular session adjourned March 13, the Legislature will soon return to Tallahassee to hash out the budget. It’s possible that some of the concerning “dead” bills could be resurrected and tacked onto budget [...]

The Florida legislative session wrapped on March 13, although legislators will soon return to Tallahassee to hash out a budget because no spending plan was passed before the final gavel fell. 3 key Everglades takeaways from the final week of session: 1. The Legislature reined in Gov. DeSantis’s unchecked ability to spend emergency funds on immigration enforcement. Throughout the session, both Republicans and Democrats criticized DeSantis for the staggering cost of “Alligator Alcatraz,” which was built with money from the state’s emergency fund that is typically earmarked for natural disaster response. DeSantis declared immigration an “emergency” in 2023 (and then extended that declaration more than 20 times) and tapped the fund for the detention center in the Everglades. Under [...]