The fate of the Florida State Parks bill will come down to the electric wires with Senate approval

TALHASSEE — The Florida Senate unanimously passed the bill Wednesday to build golf courses, hotels and other amenities on state park land amid speculation and uncertainty about the future of the popular bill.

The Senate vote would normally represent the penultimate hurdle before heading to governor, but that’s another obstacle before the time for this year’s legislative meeting, which is due to close on Friday. The Capitol, which has already passed a version of the bill, will have to approve it again as the changes. The passageway goes down to the wire.

The proposal came from a bomb controversy last year when the DeSantis administration built golf courses, 350-room hotels, a pickleball court and other amenities in nine state parks. After the Tampa Bay Times revealed its secret plan, Floridians protested in parks throughout the state, with politicians from both parties denounce the idea from the US Senate to city hall.

“It took all of Florida to do this, and it’s democracy in the workplace,” said Sen. Gail Harrell, the bill’s sponsor. “I would like to thank the people of Florida for standing up and making this bill come true. That’s their bill.”

The amendment adopted Wednesday, sponsored by Senator Alexis Calatayud of R-Miami, revealed that the state could still maintain or repair buildings, lodges, which exist in the park, while the construction of new sports facilities is prohibited on the park’s land. Harrell, a Republican from Stuart, likened the change to giving park staff the ability to repair a building if it falls into a tree, or add window panes to the parking lot of hurricane strength.

The amendment also removes the occupancy limit for six people for the cabin and continues to allow wildlife viewing activities such as glass bottom ships.

The changes are minor, but the last minute revisions have spiked anxiety among park supporters.

Chaos on the last day

Despite widespread public support for protecting state parks, the path to Tallahassee bills has been far from smooth. It passed unanimously at home two weeks ago, but stagnated in the Senate. At the final committee stop, a prominent Republican proposed adding a loophole that allowed them to build sports facilities even if certain standards were met, but in a rare move, his colleagues shot it down.

Rumors have spread that new amendments will be filed to undermine protections, leading up to this week’s Senate floor session.

But he couldn’t say who would make the change or which lawmakers. The suspense was built to the point that even longtime legislative veteran Harrell told the Tampa Bay Times 30 minutes before the session began that she still hadn’t “considered” what its fate was.

Negotiations over her bill moved “over my pay grade,” she said Tuesday.

“There’s so much going on right now… politically,” Harrell said.

This year’s session has been the most controversial for many years as an emotional infight between Congressional Republican leaders and Gov. Ron DeSantis spilled openly with the name and threat of the summons.

Minutes before the proposed Senate hearing, Harrell grabbed the binder for a bill decorated with thick, sticky notes and bookmarks on hundreds of pages. The Senator repeatedly calls her top priorities that year the scale.

“I will do everything with my strength to help pass it on,” she said.

Sen. Jennifer Bradley of R Fleming Island, Harrell’s ally in Parks’ affairs, checked the Senate website in her office as she reminded her aides that it was time to go to the floor for a 10am session on Tuesday.

Despite everything Bradley heard, no amendments have been submitted yet.

“Maybe they looked at the ideas and got more feedback,” she half-joking.

The drama is still mounted. Shortly after the floor session was convened, Senate President Ben Albritton postponed the bill to the day’s schedule to give the mysterious amendments more time to take shape.

The corrections arrived at 4:30pm on Tuesday. She muttered with peace of mind as Harrell turned the pages of her office. Pin, who reads, “I love Florida State Parks,” was clinging to her jacket.

Conspiracy build

Last summer’s scandal was a nerve-wracking sign among Floridians and an early sign of a new power struggle between DeSantis and Congress, which has since reached a boiling point.

Last year, the governor’s office secretly hatched the plan, and in April DeSantis himself sat headed the veterans’ nonprofit that sold Republican lawmakers to build a golf course in Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

The state and local lawmakers opposed the golf course plan, but the plan went ahead after the nonprofit met DeSantis. In her rage, DeSantis shelved the plan with a rare early indication that the governor’s iron grip against the state was slipping.

In March, Albritton supported some of the bill, but told reporters it was important to “balance” the park’s land. Albritton said his wife is an avid pickleball player, and the court could be an example of “enhancement” that may avoid disruption to natural habitats.

Florida’s park system spans over 800,000 acres and spans over 100 miles of beaches, one of the largest beaches in the country, and is the first four-time winner of the National Recreation and Park Association gold medal.

Bradley said lawmakers should keep in mind the widespread public outrage that erupted last summer over the idea of ​​converting a protected scrubrand into 18 holes. She still hears from “100 to zero” constituents in support of passing the bill, even if lawmakers were “here in the bubble for several months.”

“It’s my hope that people remember how people felt when they first learned this last summer,” Bradley said. “I don’t think that’s changed in the world. I think we’re separated by time now.”

In addition to allowing existing amenities to be repaired, Sen. Jason Brodeur of R-Lake Mary said he hopes the amendments will accept gifts from developed countries and turn them into state parks.

“What happens when someone buys… a place officially destroyed by oil and fertilizer. They pay to rehabilitate it. They put a golf course on it, and then they want to give it to the state as a state park,” Brodeur said. “We don’t want any language that restricts us from accepting such donations.”

The Sierra Club, which protested outside the Miami office in Calata Yud on Wednesday, called the amendment a “obvious attempt to run out of watches” led by DeSantis.

But in Tallahassee, lawmakers were confident that the bill would have enough time to pass through the house and go to DeSantis’s desk. Harrell said she was “not confident” and that DeSantis would sign “any version” of the Parks bill. Congress can override veto by two-thirds of votes.

The governor’s office has not responded to repeated emails or texts from Times reporters seeking his stance on the bill.

“This is about hearing the public and our system works,” Harrell said. “It was amazing to see this summer. At every socioeconomic level, people were united on top of our park, which means a lot to us.”

“When this is over, I’m going to celebrate with you a big celebration.”

This is a broken story. Please check for updates.