Florida Chamber, environmental groups will lobby to revive Florida Forever
3/5/2010
By Jim Ash Sometimes the lions and the lambs lie down together.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and the state's top environmental groups today announced that they will lobby for the revival of Florida Forever, the state's signature environmental land buying program.
Citing the recession and a budget crisis, lawmakers zeroed out Florida Forever funding last year. Republican leaders say the program is an unaffordable luxury at a time when they are cutting health programs for the poor. The Legislature normally uses about $30 million a year in documentary-stamp tax revenues to issue $300 million a year in Florida Forever bonds.
That didn't make good business sense, said Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson. A modest investment this year, about $5 million to generate $50 million in bonds, will allow program managers to take advantage of bargain-basement land prices and protect the quality of life needed to attract top paying jobs, he said.
"This is a small but very important investment,” Wilson said. “The next generation of talent will live where the quality of life is the best.”
Standing with the chamber were representatives from Audubon of Florida, 1,000 Friends of Florida, The Nature Conservancy, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife and the Trust for Public Land. Bringing the chamber on board doesn't make Florida Forever a sure thing.
Last week, House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, said a $3 billion budget shortfall will make justifying Florida Forever a “tough, tough, job.”
“I think that Florida Forever is a good program,” Cretul said. “But how do you go home and tell somebody who doesn't have a job that you are going to pay ($50 million,) to set aside land, and not have them ask you, ‘what were you thinking?
Source: Florida Capital News