Tag: algal blooms

Crist has been a member of the Appropriations Committee since 2019, delivering funding for Pinellas including $13 million for research and mitigation efforts against red tide and other harmful algal blooms, $25 million for veteran treatment courts to get veterans into treatment instead of jail, and $5 million to get veterans into cutting-edge clinical trials at National Cancer Institutes like Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa – just last year alone.

According to the congressman’s office, his proposal amends last year’s Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act.

Along with Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker, Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore and state Rep Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, Buchanan toured the preserve on Monday. The Robinson Preserve, the Manatee River and canals between Ellenton and Bradenton have all been hit by blue-green algae.

According to the congressman’s office, his proposal “will amend existing federal law aimed at combating harmful algal blooms to require the first-ever specific federal assessment and action plan to reduce harmful algal blooms in the Greater Everglades region.”

On Wednesday, Mast paired up with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oreg., Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, to round up more than 55 members of the U.S. House to write a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney “urging the Trump Administration to fully fund all programs related to addressing harmful algal blooms in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2020 budget.”

DeSantis and Mast weighed in on the matter on Wednesday night, even as the South Florida Water Management District scheduled a vote on the matter on Thursday. 

With toxic algae continuing to plague the Treasure Coast, freshman U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is urging congressional leadership to bring bills to the floor for votes. On Thursday, Mast called on U.S. Senate Majority...

From his seat on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was able to amend the  FY19 Minibus appropriations package. CLICK ON THE HEADLINE FOR MORE

On Wednesday, Mast unveiled his latest proposal, providing federal funds to communities fighting against algal blooms and ensuring that a federal program built to combat them will not expire.