After snow and a special session, committee meetings got back in action this week in Tallahassee. Most committees continued to hear reports from agencies, local governments, and other entities providing information about key issues for the upcoming session.
At the beginning of the week, Governor DeSantis released his administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2025-2026. The proposal emphasizes fiscal responsibility and the total comes in at $115.6 billion, about $3 billion less than last year’s budget. However, ocean and coastal priority areas are recognized within the budget proposal. In particular:
As budget reviews continue and appropriations work begins, it will be vital to prioritize funding for Florida’s coast and ocean — and utilizing funding for actions and projects that contribute to the long-term health and vibrancy of our coastal communities, ecosystems, and economies.
Committee Highlights
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) made the rounds this week at the Capitol with presentations before the Senate Insurance and Banking Committee and House Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee. In the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, FDEM Executive Director Kevin Guthrie introduced the new Elevate Florida program, a residential mitigation grant program that will provide funding for the elevation, reconstruction, or acquisition of qualifying homes. The Elevate Florida program utilizes federal funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Guthrie expressed particular focus on funding the elevation of qualifying homes, rather than acquisition, in flood prone areas. When acquired, at-risk properties are converted into open green space, which can restore natural floodplains. We will continue to follow the development and administration of the new Elevate Florida program and its impact in coastal regions as information becomes available.
The Joint Administrative Procedures Committee heard an informational overview of Senator Erin Grall’s bill that would make changes to agency rule-making procedures. Of note, the bill would require rule-making to commence within 90 days of legislation going into effect and it would increase transparency and access for materials utilized in rule-making for the public. As a reminder, agency rule-making refers to state agencies creating, amending, or repealing rules (also known as “regulations”) to implement the laws passed by the state legislature. Most of Surfrider Florida’s ocean and coastal priorities involve engagement in the agency rule-making process, so we will be following this legislation.
Legislation to Keep an Eye On
This week, we continued to see legislation filed as we prepare for the start of session in March. As highlighted in Impact Zone a few weeks ago, the Safe Waterways Act, a bill to strengthen beach water quality monitoring and public notification, is a top priority for Surfrider. The House and Senate bills have been referenced to committees and we will keep you updated on engagement opportunities and how to support this important legislation for our public health and beaches.
Surfrider is also closely tracking two pieces of legislation that will be heard in their first committee stop (Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee) in the coming week: SB 50 Nature-based Methods for Improving Coastal Resilience (sponsored by Senator Ileana Garcia, R-Miami) and SB 80 State Land Management (sponsored by Senator Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart; co-sponsored by Senator Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island). SB 50 is a broad bill engaging with nature-based solutions and infrastructure-focused interventions for coastal resilience. SB 80 seeks to address the process for project proposal, review, and approval in state parks in response to the development plans that caused widespread public outcry across the state in the fall of 2024. While both bills contain some language and goals that align with our priorities for resilience and the protection of critical coastal lands, there is room for improvement that we look forward to engaging on as the process continues.
In addition to keeping up with weekly Tallahassee happenings here in the Impact Zone blogs, you can also follow our key legislative priorities on our Florida Legislation page. Until next week!