Review of the florida agencies accused by the administration

The state authorities that were accused of leading Florida's valued and restless waterways, from world -famous feathers in the north to the huge Everglades in the south, would be exposed to a measure under a measure that was introduced in this session.

Florida's five water management districts, their limits, which are defined in the regions they serve, are responsible for water supply, maintenance and flood protection on this low peninsula of a state. The explosive population growth has put fragile freshwater resources under pressure, as well as hotter temperatures, rising seas and more intensive storms when the global climate is heated up.

SPB 7002 aims to improve transparency and accountability within the water management districts that have been set up for the purpose of managing rainwater and flood control, said the President of the Senate, per tempter Jason Brodeur (R-Sancford), who introduced the legislation.

“Over the years, local, state and federal focus have increased resources for the restoration of the environment and in particular the restoration of the Everglades. In some cases, this focus has unfortunately been manifested as a mission warrior and left too many core businesses of failure, ”wrote Brodeur, chairman of the Committee on Means of the Senate for Agriculture, Environment and General Government, in a media report in which the measure is summarized. “The aim of this legislation is to confirm the unshakable commitment of our state for the restoration of Everglades and to support our water management districts if they concentrate on their original core mission.”

As a strong federal partner of the Trump administration, Brodeur said and said that the draft law would confirm the state's commitment to restore Everglades and at the same time support other priorities such as education, public security and health care.

The legislation takes place when the Republican of Governor Ron Desantis initiated a state cost sensation that is similar to that of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) by Elon Musk, which is behind many steps of the Trump administration to the deposits of the agencies. The Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency Task Force aims to abolish 70 bodies and commissions, to use artificial secret services to further examine the agencies, to examine the expenses for universities and university expenditure and to examine unused federal funds, although the Decantis administration was not responded to further information on the aspects of the state government.

In the meantime, Desantis, who stood against President Donald Trump in the GOP primary school in 2024, has proposed that Florida should take on a greater role in restoring the Everglades of $ 23 billion. The efforts aim to revive important aspects of the drained water sheath and to secure the future drinking water supply for 9 million people in central and southern florida.

The Desantis government went to such an extent that the state was supposed to accept the authority through the US Army Corps of Engineers, the federal partner in the efforts. On the opening day of the legislative period last week, Desantis announced that the legislators in the House Chamber were gathered for the governor's state that the Trump government is “receptive to us for the blocking of money so that we can complete these projects required”.

If the Army Corps were banished in a smaller role, the work of restoration, one of the most ambitious of its kind in the history of mankind, would probably fall into the district of South Florida Water Management, the state partner in the efforts. Eva samples, managing director of Friends of the Everglades, feared that developments could rejuvenate the efforts together.

“We have a governor who wants to take on the role of the federal government in the restoration of the Everglades, and a state legislator who limits the ability of the state to finance the restoration, and at the same time we have a federal government that reduces the workforce of restoring Everglades,” she said. “All of these things together could undermine the massive taxpayers' investments in the restoration of Everglades, and today we hear a lot about the government's efficiency. That sounds like the opposite of government efficiency. “

The additional examination of the water management districts concerned Kim Dinkins, politics and planning director at 1,000 friends of Florida, an advocacy group that focused on intelligent growth.

“These efforts to further investigate their budgets is a little worrying,” she said. “It adds another layer of bureaucracy to this really nationally recognized system of managing water in their regions, which is largely effective. ''

Everglades' recovery costs have increased since former President Bill Clinton signed the attempts in the legal disputes in 2000. At that time, the costs were estimated at 8.2 billion US dollars, with the effort made for 30 to 40 years, as the media letter summarized the SB 7002. Today the time frame has shifted to 50 years, and Desantis has shaped that Florida should play a greater role because it believes that the state can carry out projects faster than the federal government.

“All of these things together could undermine the massive taxpayers' investments in the restoration of Everglades, and today we hear a lot about the government's efficiency. That sounds like the opposite of government efficiency. “

– Eva samples, friends of Everglades

“The South Florida Water Management District (District) has celebrated many successes in recent years, and there is a lot of momentum for our efforts. Governor Ron Desantis and the legislator in Florida are still the way to protect America's Everglades and to drive important projects from Everglades restoration. Since 2019, when Governor Desantis took office, the district has celebrated 75 project degrees, basic breakers and other important milestones for Everglades projects – who have most in the history of the state, ”says a explanation that the district of Climate News has given.

“The district checks the Senate Bill 7002 and would like to ensure that there are no delays in projects and that the commitment to restore the Everglades is still strong.”

Legislation aims at more transparency when it comes to the recovery expenditure of the state. The measure requires that the Water Management District in South Florida include estimates for the remaining costs for the effort. The legislation emphasizes that projects have to be carried out quickly and prohibits the coordinators of the restoration of adopting additional state money through which recurring funds will be assigned in the future. This year, the invoice offers 750 million US dollars for the restoration of Everglades.

The measure also gives the five water management districts of the state the opportunity to approve tax increases for projects according to a referendum, in addition to the traditional nature of the Board of Directors. Samples feared that the provision could slow down the restoration of the Everglades, which consists of dozens of projects that have already been approved by the congress.

“It is very, very difficult to obtain the approval of voters for real estate tax increases,” she said.

Brodeur was not worried. He said the goal was not to restrict the expenses of the restoration of Everglades.

“If it is important for taxpayers, they will do it,” he said in the Climate News. “The voters seem to like water and schools and all the stuff.”

The measure determines a new loan program for projects by the water management district as part of the nationwide flood plan of the state and the increase in sea level. It also forbids that officials from the water management district accept gifts from lobbyists and obliges the districts to prefer the lowest acceptable offers for project proposals. The legislation is next to the Senate's appropriation committee. Florida's legislative meeting ends on May 2.

“I think the water management districts are one of the best things in the state of Florida,” said Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, a former board member of Water Management District in South Florida. “I pray to God that they in no way reduce them in shape or form. Because there is nothing more important than water and there is nothing more important than local input in water policy. “