A Tallahassee judge has set a trial week in a lawsuit over the state’s environmental funding under a constitutional amendment passed almost three years ago. Circuit Judge Charles Dodson scheduled a weeklong bench trial for next July 23-27, with a pretrial conference set for June 15, court records show. Discovery in the case was ordered finished by May 25.
A lawsuit over the state’s environmental funding under a new constitutional amendment is expected to resume now that the annual Session is in lawmakers’ rear-view mirror. An array of environmental advocacy groups had filed suit over the Water and Land Legacy Amendment, also known as Amendment 1. The constitutional change, approved by voters in 2014, mandates state spending for land and water conservation. The amendment, which needed a minimum of 60 percent to pass, got a landslide of nearly 75 percent, or…
Plaintiffs challenging the state’s environmental funding under a new constitutional amendment agreed to join forces Monday. An array of environmental advocacy groups had filed suit over the Water and Land Legacy Amendment, also known as Amendment 1. The constitutional change, approved by voters in 2014, mandates state spending for land and water conservation. But advocates, including Florida Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club, say lawmakers wrongly appropriated money for, among other things, “salaries and ordinary expenses of state agencies” tasked with…
A pivotal hearing in a lawsuit over the state’s environmental funding is coming up in December. Lawyers for the Legislature and environmental advocacy groups are set to argue over a summary judgment motion Dec. 5 before Circuit Judge Charles W. Dodson in Tallahassee. Granting such motions allows parties to win a case without a trial. Florida Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and others had filed suit over the “Water and Land Legacy Amendment,” the constitutional change approved by voters in 2014 that mandates state spending for land…
Advocacy groups suing the Legislature over environmental funding now are asking a judge to hand them the win. Florida Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and others filed a 57-page motion for summary judgment Wednesday. Granting such motions allows parties to win a case without a trial. They filed suit last year over Amendment 1, the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2014 that mandates state spending for land and water conservation. The measure requires state officials to set aside 33 percent of the money…
