Florida Legislature to start budget conferencing process
Florida’s legislative leadership has finally solved its impasse on the state’s budget negotiations. Lawmakers will start putting the budget through the formal process to approve it on Tuesday.
The current agreement will include a 2.25 billion dollar reduction in recurring state revenue, including the elimination of the business rent tax, passing $350 million worth in sales tax exemptions, and more.
This agreement comes after the legislative session sat in limbo for a month, with House Speaker Daniel Perez pushing for a permanent reduction in the state’s sales tax. Senate President Ben Albritton was not on board. The agreement signals that a permanent sales tax reduction will not be coming.
How the state will reduce spending with this revenue cut will become clear during the three-day budget conferencing process, which will begin on Tuesday at 9 a.m. If no more roadblocks are hit, lawmakers should pass a budget to go to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk by the end of the week.
Some say proposed clean energy rollbacks could send Florida businesses into “survival mode”
With members of Congress expected to return from a break this week, lawmakers in the Senate are facing a July 4th deadline to pass a budget reconciliation package narrowly approved by the House.
As currently written, the bill would gut clean energy provisions, sparking concerns about local impacts.
According to a third-party analysis for ConservAmerica, a conservative-leaning nonprofit that says it champions “commonsense, market-based solutions” to energy challenges, in Florida, more than 100 thousand jobs would be at stake under the bill as currently written
Ben Pauluhn leads a company in Mount Dora specializing in electric vehicle infrastructure and solar energy systems. He says he’s worried about a provision in the bill that would derail a commercial solar energy tax credit.
“If it is halted overnight, the employment disruptions … will be so disruptive that it will cause meaningful pain to people, communities and businesses, that is probably not necessary.”
Pauluhn says he didn’t mind an earlier version of the bill that would’ve phased out the tax credit over six years. But now, only projects starting construction within 60 days of the bill’s passage could qualify for the credit.
‘Super cool’ project turns Lake Bonnet’s algae into jet fuel
Lakeland is testing algae harvesting equipment at Lake Bonnet.
The equipment has been filtering about 100,000 gallons a day since February, removing algal overgrowth that blocks sunlight from beneficial plants, deprives fish of oxygen and can be toxic to people and animals.
The machinery will continue running through November. At that point, the city will decide if it could be deployed on a larger scale.
Water from the lake is mixed with a coagulant that makes the algae clump together. The slimy algae biomass is skimmed off and then dehydrated. The newly clear water is returned to the lake.
It’s called hydronucleation flotation technology, and AECOM — which stands for Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations and Management — worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop it.
Harvested algae has a surprising range of uses.
Jet fuel, Foam shoes, and Fertilizer.
Algae is the fastest-growing plant on Earth. It can double its size in as little as 24 hours.
The pilot project is being funded by a pair of grants from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
$2.25 million was enough to cover eight months of one of AECOM’s smaller harvesting units.
More: www.floridatoday.com
