Environmental group graded Florida lawmakers. All of Manatee County’s failed 

The Florida chapter of the Sierra Club environmental advocacy group has graded state lawmakers on their performance in the 2019 legislative session, which ended in May.

Released this month, the “Legislative Scorecard” evaluates lawmakers based on how they voted on bills with the potential to negatively affect the environment. Several civil rights issues were also included.

All of Manatee County’s representatives failed the assessment.

State Reps. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, Tommy Gregory, R-Sarasota, Wengay Newton, D-St. Petersburg and Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, voted for most or all of the measures that the Florida Sierra Club opposed.

The bills in question include a plan to build new toll roads through environmentally sensitive areas of the state, policies that make it riskier for citizens to challenge development in court and measures stripping local governments of the ability to institute plastic straw bans and regulate tree removal and replacement.

The Sierra Club also singled out two Manatee County lawmakers for special admonishments.

Newton earned the title of “least environmentally-friendly” House Democrat, an honor that he shared with Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville.

Galvano, who serves as president of the Florida Senate, got a thumbs down award for his prioritization of the toll roads bill — money that the club’s report said would be better spent on improvements for schools, the environment, health care and prisons.

Galvano promoted the toll roads project as a boon for rural communities and managing Florida’s growth, but environmental groups argued that it would lead to more sprawl, habitat fragmentation and pollution.

Despite objections and statewide protests, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law in May, citing a need for new roads to get around. The governor also promised that the project would be completed with “sensitivity toward the protection of the environment.”

Another thumbs down award went to all Florida Senate Democrats who voted for the toll roads bill “because it was the Senate president’s priority.” Sen. José Javier Rodríguez, D-Miami, was the lone dissenting vote in the Florida Senate.

The Sierra Club’s report also recognized several lawmakers for positive environmental action. Among them was Rep. Margaret Good, D-Sarasota.

Good is commended for “thoughtful questioning on environmental issues in committee and on the floor of the House,” the report states. “Often a lone voice in her committees, she never wavered from her commitment to preventing pollution rather than dealing with it after it happens.”

The state representative recently announced that she will challenge U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan for his seat in Congress in the 2020 election.

In total, the report addresses the Sierra Club’s concerns with five bills that originated in the Florida House of Representatives and two from the Florida Senate, as follows:

Robinson and Galvano voted in favor of all seven bills.

Gregory voted in favor of HB 771, HB 829, HB 1159 and SB 7068. He did not cast a vote on the other three bills.

Newton voted in favor of HB 771, HB 829, HB 1159 and SB 7068. He voted against the other three.

DeSantis, who has described himself as a “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist,” signed all of the bills into law except for HB 771, which he vetoed.

This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 9:26 AM.