TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A lawyer representing environmental groups said Tuesday that his clients could file a new challenge to how Florida is spending dollars intended for conservation but have not yet decided whether to do so amid “pretty serious hostility” from the courts in a long-running legal battle in the state.
Environmentalists criticized a Florida Supreme Court decision on Monday declining to review their challenge to conservation spending in the 2015-16 state budget, which came after a 2014 ballot measure directed funding from an excise tax on documents to a trust to “acquire, restore, improve, and manage conservation lands.”
The court did not give a reason in declining review of a 1st District Court of appeal decision earlier this year backing a judge who threw out the lawsuit, which was filed in 2015. Circuit Judge Layne Smith in Leon County said in 2022 the case had dragged on for too long.
David Guest, who represents the Florida Wildlife Federation and some other groups that filed the lawsuit, said Tuesday his clients could file a new lawsuit to challenge more recent spending in the state budget. But he also said the groups face an uphill challenge in prevailing, because state courts have changed how they view their role in enforcing such constitutional amendments.
