Congressional Republicans are coming together to protect South Florida's Ecosystem Restoration efforts by requesting $725 million in funding from President Joe Biden (D).
US Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) and US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) have put together a bipartisan letter to the White House to include funding for places like the Everglades in the president's budget for the 2025 fiscal year.
"I’ve fought every year to secure full funding for Everglades restoration and pushed to prioritize projects like the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir to send water south," Rep. Mast said. "This is a fight that I’m in 365 days per year, and I’ll stay in it to make sure our kids and grandkids can enjoy all that the Everglades has to offer."
Senator Rubio added, "The completion of Everglades restoration projects will enable additional water management flexibility for beneficial management and use, lessen the volume and frequency of harmful and wasteful discharges to the estuaries that can kill wildlife and negatively impact quality of life, and prevent water shortages and restrictions across southern Florida."
This is not Congressional Republicans' first time lobbying the federal government to assist in protecting South Florida's ecosystem. Previously, the US Congress green lit a 50/50 split cost share for CERP between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Florida for construction and operation of CERP water quality features deemed essential to Everglades restoration by the Assistant Secretary of the Army.
