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Florida lawmakers reach budget deal in special session

House and Senate leaders reached a final deal on the state budget late on May 24, the last step in an extended process that required a special session to complete for the second year in a row.

The spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 will be nearly $115 billion, less than the Senate’s preferred budget but not the $113.6 billion plan preferred by the House.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, had insisted on larger cuts to the existing budget, fearing projected deficits in future years if spending wasn’t curtailed. The chambers couldn’t reach an agreement during the regular session that ended March 13.

Legislators plan to approve the budget May 29 and send it to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Here’s a look at some of the agreements reached:

Budget conference: House, Senate aligned on $1M for off-world data backups

Lawmakers are moving forward with a pair of Space Florida initiatives as budget negotiations continue, including a new pilot program that would test orbital data storage for state agencies.

Under the latest budget offer in the Transportation and Economic Development silo, the House and Senate are aligned on sending $1 million to Space Florida for a data storage pilot program.

The proposal would direct the organization to contract with a Florida-based aerospace company to provide active orbital data storage services designed to bolster state disaster recovery and cybersecurity resilience.

In simple terms, the proposal would test storing backup government data on space-based hardware — essentially creating off-world “hard drives” that could preserve critical information if disasters or cyberattacks cripple systems on the ground.

Tampa Bay area county wants to protect more land from development. It will lead to a tax?

Funding more land conservation could be on the ballot for Manatee County voters this year.

To do that, voters would most likely have to approve a new tax, according to the Trust for Public Land, the national conservation group that helped Manatee County put its 2020 conservation referendum on the ballot. Now, commissioners are considering a plan to take environmental land purchases even further.

Manatee County voters passed the 2020 measure by 71%, agreeing to fund the purchase and upkeep of new parks and preserves through a 0.15 mill property tax and up to $50 million in bonds. Bonds allow the county to access cash immediately to start purchasing land.

The referendum funds have allowed the county to purchase seven properties totaling over 305 acres to expand existing parks and establish new ones. They include over 90 acres for an expansion of Emerson Point Preserve in Palmetto and creation of the 67-acre Crooked River Preserve in Parrish and the 103-acre Triple Oak Preserve in Myakka. Several more purchases are in progress.

FWC Python Challenge accepting registration for July event in Everglades

The annual event known as the Python Challenge designed to reduce the number of the huge snakes in Florida is set to kick off July 10.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) made it official this month that the annual Florida Python Challenge will return this Summer. The contest season to remove the nonindigenous Burmese pythons from Sunshine State landscapes will last for nine days in July.

It will get underway at 12:01 p.m. on July 10 and will run through July 19 at 5 p.m. Participants have to register with the FWC in order to take part in the event. Top performers will share $25,000 in prize money. The person who removes the most pythons will win $10,000.

Registration to participate in the event opened May 19. Those wanting to take part can continue to register until the end of the event on July 19. It’s the ninth straight year the event will take place.