2019 session

Future Modes The future is now!

Volume 1, #3 July 2, 2019

Centralizing legislative power in Florida

By Jo Laurie Penrose, AICP From Feb. 18 to May 10 I worked a temporary job with the Florida House of Representatives, during the 2019 session. I worked as an editor in the office that produces the daily House Journal. That's the official proceedings of the House each session.

The job required immense concentration and an extraordinary amount of reading. Also, very long days, like 15 to 16 hours during the last week of session. The Legislature passed a 350-page bill that amends the Florida criminal code? I read it all--100 pages of printed copy, and then another 250 pages reading aloud to another editor.

This was great experience and a great way to follow legislation, from first reading by publication, to committee presentations, to final debate and vote on the House floor.

Following is a synopsis of some of the bills of interest to transportation and urban planners: HB 7068, toll road corridors in rural areas, also known as the Multi-Modal Economic Development Corridors. Florida newspapers have covered this in depth. The law, signed in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis, orders construction of three toll roads in areas of Florida that are still mostly rural.

Lobbyists for environmental groups described these roads as opening doors to more sprawl in the identified areas. The law also calls for a sweep of transportation funds to start the project. However, these toll road concepts have never been studied for feasibility. Toll roads need to raise enough revenue to pay back bond issues. This critical step in highway development hasn’t been examined, either.

Another important point was brought up on the House floor, and then discarded. The state has 26 MPOs responsible for transportation planning. Long-range needs come to $125 billion. How would they pay for those projects if the toll road project takes away needed funds? This question didn’t seem to get a good answer from the bill sponsor.

Finance isn’t the only issue with the new law. The bill text lays out the mission for task forces in each corridor that will do the planning work. The text states that only one public meeting is required. The task forces may well decide to sponsor more than one meeting. The idea of only one dismisses the massive effort made by transportation agencies and local governments to implement better community engagement.

HB 7103, also signed into law, is an example of an effort to diminish local government powers. This bill requires a local government to provide de incentives to a developer to offset any costs for affordable housing. An earlier House proposal had sought to preempt local governments from being able to require affordable housing units outright. It also requires court costs to be paid by the losing side in a challenge to a comprehensive plan.

It seems that members of the Legislature don’t understand how local government works, as shown by this previous bill which is now law. Bills filed during the session made strong efforts to preempt the regulations and ordinances that local governments are tasked with providing for the health safety and welfare of their citizens.

One House member commented during a floor debate that the Legislature creates cities, so the Legislature should be able to rein them in if needed. While this power is created in the Florida Constitution, it only applies to cities. 1 It would be interesting to follow the thought process on why a state-wide body should interfere in local policy matters.

Preempting the local government powers gravely concerns Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties. Many of the preemption bills didn’t pass, but they generated lots of debate in committee meetings and floor debates. Following are a few of the bills that passed or died during the session: HB 1155 Private Property Rights—This is now law. It prohibits local governments from requiring permitting if a property owner wants to trim or remove trees on their own property.

Short-term vacation rentals --came up again, but this bill died. The Legislature for several years has tried to preempt local jurisdiction regulation of these rentals in otherwise stable neighborhoods.

Vegetable Gardens--Local governments no longer can regulate vegetable gardens planted in front yards by a homeowner.

Preemption of Local Regulations—this would have expressly preempted the licensing of occupations to the state. Local governments would no longer be able to require an occupational license. This failed, but the idea extensive debate in committee meetings.

Preempting local government powers to the state is a developing trend in conservative state legislatures. Lauren Phillips, a Columbia Law graduate, summed this up in a Columbia Law Review article published in 2018:

“There is, however, a fundamental contradiction in conservative organizations and individuals pushing for state preemption of local regulations: Until recently, these very groups have emphasized local control in certain areas to overcome progressive policies, particularly those the Obama Administration put in place. With a Republican presidential administration and largely Republican-led state legislatures, these groups are now seeking to quash the very local control for which they advocated.”2 Another way to look at state preemption is through its effect on state administrative agencies. While conservatives agitate for small government, preemption efforts tend to place more authority into bureaucracies. This seems to defeat the idea of limited government.

On the other hand, administrative agencies in Florida make rules or manage a program only when expressly authorized to do so by law.

1.Florida Constitution Section 166.021(4) “The provisions of this section shall be so construed as to secure for municipalities the broad exercise of home rule powers granted by the constitution. It is the further intent of the Legislature to extend to municipalities the exercise of powers for municipal governmental, corporate, or proprietary purposes not expressly prohibited by the constitution, general or special law, or county charter and to remove any limitations, judicially imposed or otherwise, on the exercise of home rule powers other than those so expressly prohibited.”

2. Lauren E. Phillips, Columbia Law Review, Volume 117, No. 8, “Impeding Innovation: State Preemption of Progressive Local Regulations.”