TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A prominent Democratic state lawmaker is pushing for the Legislature to intervene to prevent another last-minute bid to develop state parks, after a controversial proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration crumbled under intense public backlash late last month.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, on Tuesday sent a letter with state Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, to Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton asking for him to publicly release records about the proposals, which drew bipartisan criticism.
Eskamani told POLITICO that the request is the first step, and that Republicans and Democratic lawmakers alike would support reforms to provide public access to similar park proposals in the future.
“I want a clearer picture of why it happened to inform policy changes to prevent it from happening again,” Eskamani said. “I do think if it could happen once it absolutely could take place again unless we make policy changes.”
