On June 1st, legislators will return for a special session and get a “do over” to put together the state budget. Rally in your community May 30th and tell your legislators to “Finish The Job” and fund Amendment 1.
After the Florida House leadership cut and ran from their responsibilities last month, they left a lot of important priorities behind. One of the most critical was funding Amendment 1 land conservation efforts as part of the state budget. With the legislature returning for a special session June 1st, they need to hear from us.
More than 75% of Florida voters changed the state constitution last year to set aside one-third of state revenues from real estate transactions exclusively for land and water conservation over the next 20 years. More than $720 million should be set aside this year for critical land conservation as a result of Amendment 1’s passage. This includes major priorities, like purchasing critical land south of Lake Okeechobee for Everglades restoration in addition to springs protection.
Under Republican leadership, this legislature has so far failed to fully fund Amendment 1, ignoring the clear will of Florida voters. This breathtaking arrogance was correctly described by former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham as “an insult” to Florida voters.
On June 1st, legislators will return for a special session and get a “do over” to put together the state budget.
Rally in your community May 30th and tell your legislators to “Finish The Job” and fund Amendment 1.
We know that legislators are increasingly paying attention to voters on this issue. Early attempts by Republican leadership to undermine Amendment 1 by providing hardly any funding for land and water conservation were met with a storm of opposition. As a result, proposed funding increased, but we’re still far from fully funding Amendment 1’s priorities as voters intended.
Let’s make sure our legislators know we want them to “Finish The Job” during special session.
PS: If you can’t attend your local event or there isn’t one in your area, click here to write your legislators today.