MIAMI — A bill changing state policy toward Everglades restoration, and pitting the Senate president’s priorities against the governor’s, advanced through its single committee stop Wednesday morning despite hours of passionate protest from clean water advocates.
Dozens of fishing guides dropped their charters for the day — one captain estimated about $40,000 in daily business was lost — and told the Senate Appropriations Committee they believed this bill would ruin water quality and their livelihoods by favoring farmers’ interests over restoration.
“If you vote yes for this bill, you will single-handedly take away years of work to better our state,” said Lee Richardson, a restaurant owner from Charlotte County. “Was that all smoke and mirrors? If you vote yes on this, I’ll have my answer... You care more for the sugar industry than you do the tourists who keep coming here and powering our state.”
