Getting hot in here

A key House Republican made it appear doubtful the House will take up, as written, a $2.4 billion proposal by Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, to buy land south of Lake Okeechobee to ease the impacts of polluted water releases into estuaries on the east and west coasts.

House Government Accountability Committee Chairman Matt Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers, said advancing Negron’s proposed 60,000-acre reservoir in the Everglades Agricultural Area, atop what is now farmland, would be “nonstarter” if it displaces other projects, such as the $600 million C-43 reservoir along the Caloosahatchee River west of the lake.

Also, the House has little appetite to borrow money through bonding the state’s portion of the costs — the federal government would be asked to cover half — for Negron’s proposed land acquisition and reservoir construction.

“I’m dubious that the bill, as it’s currently structured, could actually be accomplished the way it’s envisioned,” said Caldwell, who brought U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., to a meeting Wednesday of the state House Natural Resources & Public Lands Subcommittee.

The two chambers are also at odds over gambling legislation. The Senate’s plan would expand the state’s gambling footprint; the House’s plan would maintain the status quo.

The overwhelming endorsement of the House and Senate plans by key committees sets the stage for critical negotiations between the two chambers, Scott’s administration and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Appropriations Committee voted 14-2 to approve the Senate bill (SB 8), while the House Tourism & Gaming Control Subcommittee voted 10-5 to approve the House measure (PCB TGC 17-01).