Thank you to the THOUSANDS of Floridians that called, emailed, wrote, and tweeted at Governor DeSantis. You helped defeat the bad Everglades and conservation bill, SB 2508. This budget-conforming bill wrongly contained significant policy changes that would have allowed for the faster destruction of our wetlands, slower restoration of the Everglades, and competition between our valued conservation programs, like Florida Forever. In addition to containing bad policies, there was only one opportunity for public comment.
Thanks to people like you and the advocacy of dozens of other environmental organizations and activists, Governor DeSantis listened and vetoed this bad bill. Congratulations to everyone and every organization that helped make this a reality.
MUST-READ: TC Palm article, including a statement from FCV’s Legislative and Political Director Jonathan Webber in response to the Governor’s veto:
“You can’t mess around with Everglades restoration or any of our major conservation programs and expect no one to notice. FCV and many other environmental organizations sounded the alarm during the legislative session about the problems with SB 2508. Since then, thousands of Floridians have sent emails and letters urging a veto of this bad bill. The Governor made the right decision today, and hopefully, this will be a signal to lawmakers to stop using legislative tricks to sneak harmful environmental policy past the Florida public. We are watching.”
SB 2508 is a perfect example of why advocates are a critical part of the legislative process. FCV and our allies at the Capitol have been tracking this bill since the moment it was filed.