Legislative leaders have agreed to use hundreds of millions of dollars in gambling money to help pay for further expansion of a state wildlife corridor and other environmental projects.
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee and the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee approved identical bills (SB 1638 and HB 1417) that, in part, would provide $100 million a year for the wildlife corridor, a priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples.
Also, the bills include directing $100 million a year for the management of uplands and to remove invasive species and $100 million for a Department of Environmental Protection flooding and sea-level rise resilience plan.
Much of the money for the legislation would come from a gambling deal, known as a “compact,” that Gov. Ron DeSantis reached with the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2021.
