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And, yet another great move by Gov. Jeb Bush -- a new plan to pay for FL's share while keeping FL debt-free:

Bush Proposes Debt-Free Everglades Restoration Funding

By: Amanda Riddle, Associated Press The Naples Daily News

January 4, 2002

WEST PALM BEACH - Gov. Jeb Bush proposed new debt-free funding sources Thursday that he said would secure Florida's $100 million annual commitment to Everglades restoration through 2010.

The year-old Everglades plan calls for the state and federal government to share the $7.8 billion cost of restoring the wetlands over the next 30 years.

The state had been taking most of its $100 million share from the general revenue budget, but that proved risky after the recession caused the budget to shrink by $1 billion this year.

Bush, in a videotaped speech that will be broadcast Thursday night at an Everglades conference in Fort Lauderdale, said his proposal uses "reliable, secure, debt-free dollars."

He is calling for tapping cash that is held in reserve to guarantee the debt of Florida Forever. The state would then instead insure that conservation program's debt through surety bonds.

Bush said redirecting revenues from a current tax would provide the remaining portion of the state's share each year.

The proposal is an alternative to a legislative bill that would allow the state to borrow money by issuing bonds.

Environmentalists and several lawmakers support the bonding proposal, which would allow the state to issue up to $125 million in bonds annually over the next eight years.

They say that would prevent land acquisition from falling behind schedule.

"A bonding approach gives you a lot more flexibility about how much you're going to spend and how you're going to spend it," said Eric Draper, policy director for Aububon of Florida.

Bush said he would support bonding if it becomes necessary, but he doesn't want to increase the state's debt.

The annual Everglades Coalition conference comes a little over a year after the restoration project became law.

Another issue that will be debated during the four-day meeting is a draft of rules that provide a general plan for restoration. The draft was released last week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Environmentalists say the broad rules are too weak because they lack deadlines, timelines and other interim goals to measure progress.

They also complain that the blueprint gives the Corps and the state too much discretion to develop project specifics and doesn't bind them to the goals they set.

The corps will seek opinions on the draft at the conference. It must create the rules to begin implementing the plan in December 2002.

"This is an initial draft, a first cut," said Stu Applebaum, the Corps' chief of the restoration project. "We've put a process together that will allow for a lot of comment."

Environmentalists fear the agencies, influenced by agriculture and utility interests, won't make repairing the fragile Everglades ecosystem their top priority in a project also intended to boost drinking water supplies and provide flood control.

"The Everglades is the fundamental reason we're doing this, and we can't let it be hijacked by big agriculture business and by sprawl developers or we're all going to lose," said the Sierra Club's Jonathan Ullman.

In his speech, Bush also said he would sign an agreement with his brother, President Bush, that promises the state won't permit away water intended to restore natural water flows in the Everglades before water-generating projects are complete.

The agreement is mandated in the Everglades bill and the coalition has been impatiently waiting for it to be signed, Estenoz said.

Bush spokeswoman Lisa Gates said she anticipates Bush will sign the agreement in the next month or so to ensure "the Everglades "is going to be the number 1 priority for getting the water."