Proposal 95 represents a power play by Tallahassee.
If the Florida Legislature has spent the last several years chipping away at “home rule,” the ability of cities and counties — and local voters — to govern themselves on a wide variety of issues, the state’s Constitution Revision Commission is threatening to bulldoze a large tract of local autonomy in one fell swoop.
Proposal 95, sponsored by CRC member Tom Lee, a Republican state senator from Thonotosassa, would amend the Florida Constitution to prohibit a county or municipality from passing regulations that “intrude upon or impede commerce, trade, or labor across the respective entity’s boundaries.” The proposal doesn’t define “commerce,” “trade,” or “labor,” — or “intrude” and “impede” for that matter — leaving it vague and open to interpretation.
If the CRC were to approve Proposal 95 and place it on the November ballot, voters would have no idea what exactly they were voting for. If it passed, it would inject a lot of uncertainty into local governance and economic growth.
Don’t take our word for it. The CRC’s own staff analysis concluded: “The scope of the proposal may be dependent on the interpretation of ‘may only regulate commerce, trade or labor occurring exclusively within the respective entity’s own boundaries ...’ Courts may be required to determine the scope and reach of this language in its current form.” That’s just what Florida needs, a bunch of lawsuits every year involving local governments. The only sector of the economy that’s going to benefit is the legal profession.
It’s not hard to imagine the damage done to communities. Would homebuilders not be subject to local zoning and land-use laws? Would a fast-food chain restaurant not have to abide by the same restrictions local eateries do?
Even if the parameters of Proposal 95 were as clear as a saint’s conscience, it wouldn’t change the fact that the measure represents a power play by Tallahassee, a sweeping attempt to usurp local control and concentrate power in the capital.
Special interests like that arrangement because they don’t have to deal with hundreds of different government entities to get their way; they can go one-stop shopping at the Legislature, needing to influence perhaps only a committee chairman to receive favorable action. Lawmakers approve because it boosts their power.
But for the average Joes back home, it means having their communities shaped not by those whom they elect to county and city positions, but by legislators in Tallahassee, many of whom have no knowledge of, or care for, issues outside their districts. It creates one-size-fits-all governance in a state that is highly diverse. Rules and regulations will be uniformly imposed from above on every region, every city, every neighborhood, from the Panhandle to South Florida.
Preserving home rule doesn’t mean that local governments will always make the right choices for their constituents. What it does do, though, is allow cities and counties and tailor policies to meet their unique needs. Most important, it allows these decisions to be regularly reviewed by the people most affected by them: If the voters don’t like something, they can effect change at the ballot box. Thus, local governments have more incentive to be responsive to voters than a distant state government would. That local check on political power would be neutered if Proposal 95 passes.
After a committee vote on it last week was temporarily postponed, Proposal 95 comes up for consideration again Friday. The CRC should pull the plug once and for all on this transparent attempt to remove local control from your hands.