As the 2015 Legislative session quickly approaches, local lawmakers are asking constituents for their thoughts throughout the week. Wakulla County legislative delegation met Tuesday.
Sen. Bill Montford (D-Tallahassee) and Rep. Halsey Beshears (R-Monticello) led Tuesday’s Wakulla County legislative delegation meeting. Montford says education popped up among the biggest concerns.
“…the amount of testing that our students are required to do now, and the demands that are placed on the students and the teachers,” said Montford. “I think what you’ll see this year in the Florida Legislature is some movement toward making some tweaks to the accountability system that we have in place now. I know that Rep. Beshears and I work closely together on education issues as well as other issues, and I think he would agree this is something we need to look at in terms of making some adjustments.”
And, Beshears says an ongoing issue of incorporating Panacea was also a topic of discussion.
“The gist of that is Panacea would like to incorporate themselves—create their own local government and we have to run the local bill, and it’s actually going to be a referendum,” said Beshears. ”They’re asking for us to pass a bill that allows the citizens of Sopchoppy to simply vote on that.”
Residents also shared concerns about the fishing and oyster industry, how Amendment 1 will affect funding for Wakulla Springs, and the certification of volunteer fire departments.
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