FL Democrats Threaten Everglades Restoration Funding

After Florida Republicans fought long and hard to receive funding for the Everglades, a new bill poses a threat that would require automatic, across-the-board cuts to Everglades restoration funding.

Rep. Brian Mast (R) blasted House Democrat leadership this week for putting the Everglades funding at risk after Democrats passed an appropriations bill that would bust the budget caps put in place in 2011 by $176 billion.

If it becomes law, there would be substantial reductions to federal programs that includes untenable cuts to Everglades restoration and other environmental protection programs.

In a statement, Mast argued that “after everything we’ve done fighting for money for the Everglades, instead of just passing a clean bill to protect our waterways, House Democrats attached unrelated provision after unrelated provision – including making it harder to secure our border, spending $100 mission advertising Obamacare, expanding abortion and massively increasing our country’s debt.”

Moreover, Mast declared that “maybe worst of all, by spending $176 billion more than current budget caps, it would trigger automatic cuts to Everglades restoration and environmental protection programs.”

He asserted that “instead of wasting time voting on a bad bill that has no chance of becoming law, House Democrats need to put a clean bill on the House Floor that funds Everglades restoration immediately.”

Having been at the forefront for months in the battle to include $200 million in Everglades Restoration funding in this year’s Energy and Water Appropriations bill, Mast noted that he “will not stop fighting for this money and will not let these ridiculous political games yet again get in the way of restoring the Everglades!”