Senate Bill 7068 funds three toll roads through rural Florida that will fragment landscape and wildlife habitat. The intended “benefits” of these toll roads include water and sewer infrastructure which, with on and off ramps, will accelerate urban sprawl in the last of Florida’s undeveloped areas. Subdivisions and strip malls will proliferate and the natural resources that bring visitors to the State will be overused and overrun. The bill is now headed to the Senate Committee on Appropriations and we need your help.
Building these roads will be expensive! FDOT estimates it will cost $134 million by 2022 to build 13 miles of the Suncoast 2 Parkway[1] – over $10 million a mile. The projects proposed in this bill could cost over $3 Billion. That’s money that will be taken away from General Revenue which funds state parks, education, health care, and hurricane emergency relief.
TAKE ACTION!
Please call members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and urge them to vote NO on SB 7068.Please make every effort to speak to staff in the Senator’s office. Nicely, but firmly, ask the staff person to tell the Senator to vote “NO”. If you live in a Senator’s district (see the counties below), be sure to say so! Constituents are very important to legislators. State why you don’t want these roads built. If you don’t reach staff, please leave a voice mail. Ask Sen. Lee (the sponsor of SB 7068) to please withdraw his bill. |
Senator's Name
|
County or Counties Represented
|
Email
|
Phone
|
Sen. Rob Bradley (R-FL-005) - Chair
|
Consists of Baker, Bradford, Clay,
Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, Union counties and
part of Marion county
|
bradley.rob.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5005
|
Sen. Wilton Simpson (R-FL-010) - V. Chair
|
Consists of Citrus, Hernando counties and part of Pasco county
|
simpson.wilton.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5010
|
Sen. Aaron Bean (R-FL-004)
|
Consists of Nassau county and part of Duval county
|
bean.aaron.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5004
|
Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-FL-027)
|
Consists of part of Lee county
|
benacquisto.lizbeth.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5027
|
Sen. Lauren Book (D-FL-032)
|
Consists of part of Broward county
|
book.lauren.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5032
|
Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-FL-024)
|
Consists of part of Pinellas county
|
brandes.jeff.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5024
|
Sen. Oscar Braynon (D-FL-035)
|
Consists of parts of Broward, Miami-Dade counties
|
braynon.oscar.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5035
|
Sen. Anitere Flores (R-FL-039)
|
Consists of Monroe county and part of Miami-Dade county
|
flores.anitere.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5039
|
Sen. George Gainer (R-FL-002)
|
Consists of Bay, Holmes, Jackson,
Walton, Washington counties and part of Okaloosa county
|
gainer.george.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5002
|
Sen. Audrey Gibson (D-FL-006)
|
Consists of part of Duval county
|
gibson.audrey.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5006
|
Sen. Travis Hutson (R-FL-007)
|
Consists of Flagler, St. Johns counties and part of Volusia
county
|
hutson.travis.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5007
|
Sen. Tom Lee (R-FL-020)
|
Consists of parts of Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk counties
|
lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5020
|
Sen. Debbie Mayfield (R-FL-017)
|
Consists of Indian River county and part of Brevard county
|
mayfield.debbie.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5017
|
Sen. Bill Montford (D-FL-003)
|
Consists of Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton,
Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla counties
|
montford.bill.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5003
|
Sen. Kathleen Passidomo (R-FL-028)
|
Consists of Collier, Hendry counties and part of Lee county
|
Passidomo.Kathleen.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5028
|
Sen. Bobby Powell (D-FL-030)
|
Consists of part of Palm Beach county
|
powell.bobby.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5030
|
Sen. Darryl Rouson (D-FL-019)
|
Consists of parts of Hillsborough, Pinellas counties
|
Rouson.Darryl.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5019
|
Sen. David Simmons (R-FL-009)
|
Consists of Seminole county and part of Volusia county
|
simmons.david.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5009
|
Sen. Kelli Stargel (R-FL-022)
|
Consists of parts of Lake, Polk counties
|
stargel.kelli.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5022
|
Sen. Linda Stewart (D-FL-013)
|
Consists of part of Orange county
|
stewart.linda.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5013
|
Sen. Perry Thurston (D-FL-033)
|
Consists of part of Broward county
|
thurston.perry.web@flsenate.gov
|
(850) 487-5033
|
SB 7068 calls for shifting an escalating amount of dollars to plan for the tolled expressways from the State General Revenue Fund, rising to $135 million by 2022. The state would borrow billions of dollars more for construction. SB 7068 shifts money away from other important purposes like education, hurricane recovery, state parks and important maintenance on the roads we already have. Governor DeSantis has repeatedly raised concerns about the impact of toll roads on the pocketbooks of working Floridians.
These expressways would carve three corridors through Florida’s undeveloped areas:
Click here and take a look at a detailed map of what would be impacted by these expressways. You can zoom in and out of areas of interest and the buttons on the upper right allow you to sort the potential impacts. These roads would not serve an identified transportation purpose. Instead, legislators have advocated for them on different grounds:
It's important for those committee members to hear from concerned citizens like you that SB 7068 is a bad investment that will hurt the environment and accelerate urban sprawl. |
