Dear Activist:
The Florida League of Conservation Voters (FLCV) and the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club (FCSC) are pleased to present this legislative environmental scorecard. The scorecard summarizes actions of the 2004 Florida legislature that are likely to impact our state’s environment.
This session was marred by the legislative leadership’s growing tendency to deny citizens up-to-date access to developing bills. On more than one occasion during the 2004 session, industry lobbyists had the latest version of a bill in their hands while citizen activists, despite frequent requests, were denied access to the same information. It has become clear that access to information is awarded on the basis of campaign donations. This puts activists representing ordinary people at a great disadvantage when challenging pro-industry legislation, which is written by lobbyists with unlimited access to legislators. This sorry state of affairs has become the status quo in Florida, and begs the question: who exactly is our “House of Representatives” representing?
The free access lobbyists enjoy is magnified by the revolving door in Florida’s capitol. Since the institution of term limits for Florida’s legislators, inexperienced politicians have become dependent on legislative staff for expertise. More and more, staffers are former lobbyists and lobbyists are former staffers. This happy family is quite comfortable excluding outsiders from their cozy inner circle, and industry profiteers gain from the bills they write and push through.
A continuing source of frustration for citizens is the lack of accountability for our legislators. Frequently, entire committees sponsor some of the worst anti-environmental bills. Similarly, important amendments are frequently passed by voice vote, leaving no evidence of how any particular legislator voted.
Symbolic of the betrayal of the public trust is the continuing raid of so-called trust funds. Money collected and earmarked for specific projects has become fair game for transfer to general revenue to cover budget shortfalls. In 2004, for example, trust fund revenues amounting to 25 million dollars for Save Our Everglades were transferred to general revenues. The Land Acquisition Trust Fund was raided to the tune of 76.9 million dollars. The Water Management Lands Trust Fund was relieved of 34 million dollars. Other trust fund raids involved Conservation and Recreation Land ($30 million), Invasive Plant Control ($18.5 million), State Game Trust Fund ($7.7 million), and Water Quality Assurance ($2 million).
It would not be fair to heap all the blame on the GOP majority. The Democrats failed to stand united. In fact, some Democrats sponsored some of the worst legislation in order to maintain favorable standing with the ruling majority party. An example of this is the bi-partisan sponsorship of bills to limit the citizen initiative process. One of the dynamics having a positive effect on the outcome of the sessions was Speaker Byrd’s 48-hour rule. This required a 48-hour cooling off period to review legislation before votes could be taken. With very few exceptions, this rule limited the potential damage from last-minute legislative “trains” that could have been inflicted during this legislative session.
Priority bills tracked by FLCV and FCSC in 2004 include the Shooting Range Immunity legislation, which lets outdoor shooting range owners off the hook for environmental cleanup of lead contamination. This bill was pushed by the National Rifle Association, which contributed the maximum allowable campaign donation to every single GOP legislator. The 2004 legislature continued its assault on the endangered West Indian Manatee by once again introducing anti-manatee legislation and calling it the “Manatee Protection Act.” This bill was backed by the boating industry. Big business interests also backed a series of bills and resolutions written to limit citizen participation in the constitutional amendment process. Apparently big business cannot foresee a day when corporate-friendly politicians no longer dominate our legislature.
The priority bills tracked by FLCV and FCSC are detailed in the following pages, in both text and tables. The results can also be viewed online at the following address:
Those who would like to review the bills and amendments in greater detail, or look up votes, can access that information at the following web site:
We hope you find this information to be helpful as you consider your options in the upcoming election.
Yours truly,
Nancy Brown
President,
Florida League of Conservation Voters
John Swingle
Conservation Chair
Florida Chapter, Sierra Club