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Healthcare may have been the main reason lawmakers had to hold a special session to craft a state budget, but as Matt Galka tells us, there’s still nearly a one billion dollar environmental spending agreement that needs to be reached as mandated by voters under Amendment 1.

Lawmakers have yet to agree on how to spend the more than 700 million dollars they have to work with under the voter approved Amendment 1. A big difference: whether or not to invest the money in long term bonds. Environmentalists think it’s a smart idea.

“Voters, when they approved amendment 1, they approved using the amendment 1 dollars to pay the service on bonds so that’s the smartest way to get the money for springs and Everglades and the parks that we need,” said Eric Draper with Audubon Florida.

The House is on board but the Senate is opposed. Senate budget chief Tom Lee says it’s hypocritical for the House to reject federal money for healthcare but then want to bond environmental money.

“For whatever reason there’s a preponderance of the members of the legislature that didn’t want to draw down federal money to ameliorate the problems we have in our budget, but they want to whip out a credit card, conveniently and blow a lot of money in the environment,” said Sen. Lee (R-Brandon).

Because the House and Senate can’t seem to come to an agreement, both chamber’s budget chairmen will have the ultimate decision.

The Everglades Trust, which wants to use Amendment 1 money to buy U.S. sugar land around the glades, has launched attack ads on lawmakers they claim aren’t doing enough.

Sen. Joe Negron (R-Stuart) wants to bond around $40 million dollars for everglades purchases.

“I think it’s appropriate given the language in Amendment one that we use financing to make environmental land purchases,” he said.

Whatever the outcome, environmentalists are clear on one thing: lawmakers are only spending a fraction of what they should be to honor the will of voters.