Work group recommends 22 vetoed Florida water projects for reinstatement

The combined work group on water programs agreed to submit 22 previously vetoed water projects from across Florida to the speaker's office for possible reinstatement, the work group chair said during the meeting.

The recommendation narrows a starting list of 160 vetoed projects to 22 projects that the chair said represent 14% of the original project count. The chair also said the selected projects account for $36,700,000 of the total funds discussed; the group had discussed a potential pot of $200,000,000 in allocated funds. The chair said the group reached the list through member-driven rankings that included each member's first and second recommendations.

"The highlighted projects are the projects that we will be submitting to the speaker's office to request reinstatement," the Work group chair said, describing the list as "a member driven process." The chair also thanked staff, saying, "Bruce Topp sitting to my right has been my rock star," for helping prepare the spreadsheet of recommended projects.

Multiple members praised the process as efficient and collaborative. Representative Moody said, "Honestly, the process was great. It feels good to be engaged." Freshman members and more senior members described the exercise as a learning opportunity and noted that members consulted colleagues across regions before ranking projects.

Members said the group reduced the list in stages: from 160 to 69, then to 48 (which the chair said was not published), and finally to 22. The chair told members that if a project on the recommended list receives grant funding before any reinstatement action is taken, "we will just remove them from the veto override list." The chair said Speaker Perez authorized the membership-driven process and did not submit projects from the speaker's office.

The work group did not record a formal roll-call vote on the list during the meeting. The meeting concluded after a motion by Representative Mooney to adjourn was made and the chair closed the session.

Next steps the chair described include submitting the highlighted list to the speaker's office; the chair cautioned that the recommendation does not guarantee House or Senate action and that forthcoming grant awards could change which projects remain on the list.