Senate to take up growth management bill

The Florida Senate is set to consider a growth management measure designed to encourage growth in urban areas and away from rural parts of the state.

Senate Bill 360, sponsored by Sen. Mike Bennett, would lift an existing requirement to have sufficient roads and other transportation facilities in place before development can take place. That requirement was intended to prevent urban sprawl, but it's had the opposite result. Growth has shifted to outlying and rural areas where roads are less traveled and cheaper to build.

Follow the story here.

Other legislative stories in today's paper and/or at Bradenton.com/legislature include a story about how and how deep lawmakers want to dig into your pockets to make up for declining revenues in the state budget and Herald reporter Sara Kennedy's report on efforts to prepare Florida for a "greener" future.