What's a lobbyist doing on the SFWMD Governing Board?

Last week we raised questions about two new members of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, because newbies Thomas Hurley and Robert Spottswood Jr., are both developers.

This week we raise concerns about an EXISTING SFWMD board member — because he’s a lobbyist.

Scott Wagner, who represents Miami-Dade County, is listed as a Partner with powerhouse lobbying firm Ballard Partners, one of the most influential firms in Tallahassee. There's no indication Wagner is lobbying on water management district issues, but the connection raises all sorts of questions — at the very moment the state legislature, via Senate Bill 7002, is cracking down on water management district business practices.

And it's just more evidence that the SFWMD Governing Board is increasingly dominated by special interests rather than clean-water concerns.

For the story, click the button below.

Here's how much Dirty Money Big Sugar gave in Q1 2025

The state’s campaign finance data for the first quarter of 2025 dropped in recent weeks, and it shows — surprise, surprise — that Big Sugar is still giving big bucks, even in an off-election year.

According to the Florida Department of State, sugar interests gave over $675,000 in the first three months of 2025 to statewide candidates and causes — with $653,000, or 97 percent, coming from U.S. Sugar and its subsidiaries.

Another $18,750 came from Florida Crystals and its subsidiaries, $3,000 from the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative, and $1,000 from the New Hope Sugar Company.

As is often the case, PACs — political action committees — got much of this money. US Sugar gave $250,000 to the Florida Chamber of Commerce PAC; Conservatives for a Better Florida got $50,000, and Panhandle Prosperity got $25,000.

Four PACs got $10,000 apiece: Quiet Professionals FL, Government Gone Wild, Conservatives for Good Government, and the Freedom Leadership Fund.

U.S. Sugar also gave $10,000 to the Friends of Joe Gruters and Friends of Corey Simon PACs. The company and its subsidiaries — South Central Florida Express and Southern Gardens Groves Corp. — donated directly to sitting Representatives Debbie Mayfield and James Buchahan, along with candidates Nathan Boyles — an Okaloosa County Commissioner running for the Florida House District 3 seat — and Ashley Perez Biliskov, who is running to replace current House Speaker Rep. Daniel Perez in District 116.

Florida Crystals’ contributions were split between PACs and individual candidates. Floridians for Economic Leadership and the Florida Jobs Alliance each got $5,000, while the Florida Chamber of Commerce PAC and the Southeast Florida Chamber Alliance got $1,875 apiece.

Meanwhile, the company and two subsidiaries, Okeelanta Corp. and Stofin Co. Inc., donated directly to Sens. Ileana Garcia, Jason Brodeur and Corey Simon.

Big money from Big Sugar is nothing new; last year the industry gave more than $5.4 million, state records show. For a look at the Q1 2025 data, click here.

Dirty Money updates

VoteWater is in the process of updating our Dirty Money Project to reflect the latest data. All state-level data has been updated; we’re working on federal Congressional data; and finally we will update county-level data.

Once the updates are complete, all the data will be displayed on our website — and we’ll let you know if we find any particularly dirty “Dirty Money!”

State parks bill update

Senate Bill 80 passed the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee Tuesday after fending off a "substitute amendment" offered by Sen. Joe Gruters which would have permitted the construction of golf courses, pickleball courts and more so long as they didn't have an negative impact on the natural resources of the park.

Gruters apparently didn't get the memo that people don't want that kind of development in our parks, period.

Ultimately, he was the only one to vote for the substitute amendment, which appropriately went down in flames.

The underlying bill, SB 80, now advances to the Senate floor on Tuesday, April 29 — where we still hope Senators will take up the House language from House Bill 209, which was amended to close the loopholes in the language and is a tighter, more protective bill.

We need you to take action by clicking this link or the button below to contact your state lawmakers and ask them to adopt the House language before passing SB 80.

And thanks to those who've already called or emailed on this issue — you've made a difference!

We're looking for

a few good Community Liaisons

At VoteWater we’re always looking for a few good water warriors. And if that describes you, consider becoming one of our Community Liaisons!

We need volunteers to be our “eyes and ears” in their local community, keeping us informed on clean-water issues and where elected officials and candidates stand.

Responsibilities would include:

1. Keep VoteWater apprised about clean-water issues in your community: news stories, actions taken (or not taken) by elected officials, pollution problems and attempts to address them, etc.
2. Advocate in your community by attending public meetings and commenting, where appropriate, on clean-water issues.
3. Help VoteWater assess political candidates in your community. Help identify candidates who might become allies; speak to those candidates to convey our priorities and determine theirs, and make recommendations to VoteWater on potential endorsements.
4. Help identify fundraising opportunities for VoteWater in your community: possible/likely donors, venues that might be willing to host an event, etc.

We are particularly interested in residents of Collier and Lee counties who are willing to serve in this role.

If interested, please contact VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart at (772) 212-2939, or by email at [email protected].

'Rescue' to the rescue

Save the Everglades. Save the northern estuaries. Save Florida Bay. How? Rescue the River of Grass. Click the button for more.