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Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Budget Status Report – Week 8
Fiscal Year 2016/17 Legislative Budget Request
Charlotte Jerrett, March 4, 2016
The Budget Conference held an organizational session last week after the House
and Senate reached agreement on the Conference budget allocations. Senate and
House members were appointed to serve on Conference committees shortly before
Conference meetings began. The House is hosting Conference negotiations this
year since the Senate hosted Conference negotiations during last Session. The
subcommittee handling the FWC budget is the General Government/Agriculture &
Natural Resources Budget Conference Committee (GG/ANR), which includes 6
Senate members and 14 House members. There are also a number of “at large”
members on both sides who may participate in any of the budget conference
committee meetings.
The work of the GG/ANR Conference Committee came to a close late Monday
evening, with only 4 unresolved issues for FWC. Those issues, along with other
unresolved GG/ANR issues were “bumped” to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committee Chairs. The House and Senate Appropriations Chairs
met late Thursday evening and agreed upon most “bumped” issues for the
GG/ANR subcommittee. Details of the agreed upon FWC budget issues are
available below and on the attached side-by-side comparison spreadsheet.
While the majority of budget issues that impact FWC have been agreed upon at
this time, several subject areas within the state budget remain open. Accordingly,
no conference bills are available at this time.
New Issues: The agreed up budget includes funding for following FWC Strategic
Initiative Support funding: enhancements for Water and Land Conservation
programs, Black Bear Conflict Reduction, Critical Wildlife Area Monitoring,
Enhanced Monitoring of Imperiled Species to Support Management of Conservation
Lands, Derelict Vessel Removal, Lionfish Management, Babcock Ranch Preserve
Management & Public Use, Enhanced Wildlife Disease/Public Heath Surveillance,
Florida Boating Improvement Program, and the Blackwater Fisheries Research and
Development Center Water Supply Reservoir Renovation.
The following Operational Support Initiatives were funded: Personal Locator
Beacon’s for Law Enforcement Officers and Vessels, Statewide Information
Technology Upgrades, Recreational Licensing Services, Farris Bryant Building Fire
Safety Equipment, Critical Vehicle Replacement, Southwest Regional Office Parking
Lot Repair, FWRI roof replacement and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)