2024 Legislative Priorities
- Protect wetlands: Reject any attempt to preempt local authority on wetlands, while safeguarding existing state-level protections.
- Get serious about toxic algae: With toxic algae now a perennial and worsening problem, Florida cannot wait any longer to take decisive action.<
- Fix our failing BMAPs: Update BMPs and toughen enforcement to meet pollution-reduction goals.
- Don’t ban fertilizer bans: County/municipal fertilizer ordinances are key to improved water quality. Any attempt to weaken existing ordinances or preempt local governments’ ability to enact such ordinances must be rejected.
- Smarter, controlled development: Re-strengthen the state’s role in growth management.
- Stop sugarcane burning: The outdated practice of pre-harvest burning must be phased out and growers required to transition to safer “green” harvesting.
- Send more clean water south: Acquire more land for Stormwater Treatment Areas to store water, clean it and move it south to rehydrate the southern Everglades.
Latest News –
Sugar Reform Now: Sign the U.S. Farm Bill petition to protect the Everglades
For decades, private sugar companies have received enormous government handouts via the U.S. Farm Bill — to the detriment of clean air and water in Florida. Through controls on production and strict import limits, the cost of the federal [...]
WATCH NOW: Dissecting the Florida budget numbers
https://youtu.be/w8T5nLzWR0I From the desk of our Executive Director, Eve Samples, your Voice of the Everglades update: The movement you empower at Friends of the Everglades hinges on a vision for the future of Florida:It’s about clean water, protected wetlands, thriving [...]
How They Voted on Key Bills –
2024
2023
Key Players –
The following elected officials have an outsized influence on environmental decisions made by Florida’s Legislature during the 2023 legislative session.