Jimmy Buffett played a short acoustic set Tuesday on the steps of the Florida Capitol, where he sang a few of his greatest hits, as well as tried out a new tune.
Buffer called on the Legislature's Republican leaders to think twice about an Amendment 1 funding plan, which Buffett says cuts corners on water conservation in the name of saving money for tax cuts.
Though voters overwhelmingly approved the 2014 amendment to devote $10 billion to water and land conservation — Amendment 1 passed with a 75 percent "yes" vote — state House and Senate spending plans include barely $20 million to buy land that environmentalists say is key to storing clean water as Florida's population booms.
Buffett said the choice is as crystal clear as the tropical waters he so loves: The legislature needs to sign off on buying $350 million worth of U.S. Sugar land near the Everglades where reservoirs could be built.
While some Senate leaders are open to the mammoth land purchase, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said it would be too costly, no matter what the will of the voters might have been. Buffett's Capitol concert was clearly an eleventh-hour affair.