Bill > H1291

This bill terminates several obsolete trust funds within the Department of Environmental Protection, including the Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund, the Ecosystem Management and Restoration Trust Fund, the Florida Communities Trust Fund, and the Florida Preservation 2000 Trust Fund, and redirects their remaining balances and future revenues. Most of these funds will be transferred to the General Revenue Fund, with some exceptions directed to the Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund or the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, which is reenacted. The bill also terminates similar trust funds within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It revises how documentary stamp tax revenues are distributed, prioritizing payments for bonds issued for land acquisition and Everglades restoration, and then allocating a portion to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for other constitutionally authorized purposes. Additionally, the bill makes conforming changes to various statutes related to land acquisition, management, and funding, including adjustments to the distribution of phosphate severance taxes and the uses of funds for beach management and water quality programs, ultimately aiming to streamline and consolidate conservation funding.