Earlier today, Governor Scott released his 2011-2013 budget proposal with reductions topping $5B, despite facing only a 3.6B state shortfall. While many budget categories are aggregated, making it difficult to determine specific programs that have been reduced or eliminated, a few items are apparent:

1)      Everglades Restoration garnered a coveted $17M in general revenue for each of the next two years (Scott’s proposal was a two-year, rather than one-year, budget)

2)      Disappointingly, the state's premier land-buying program, Florida Forever, was not allocated any funding.

3)      The Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the state’s growth management regulation, appears to have been split, farmed out to other agencies (like DEP), and ultimately reduced to a shadow of its former self. It remains to be seen how these functions will be retained.

4)      The Governor interspersed his budget’s line items with goals and benchmarks for achievement, such as increasing state land attendance by 3% in the next two years. Audubon supports this revenue-generating goal, and encourages all our supporters to enjoy natural Florida this coming weekend.

5)     While State Park attendance was, appropriately, a focus in the Governor's budget, the fate of the park closures remains to be seen. The Governor did not specifically address the closures proposal in his budget.

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