Republicans in Tallahassee are centralizing power (like the Soviets did) by chipping away at Home Rule

The concept of Home Rule has a long history in our state. Voters enshrined it into the Florida Constitution 50 years ago, and it has been the bedrock of effective local government decision-making ever since. Its purpose is simple: elected officials in our cities, towns and counties should have the right to make laws that are best for their constituents, as long as they do not conflict with federal or state laws. Think about a busy intersection that may need a stoplight instead of a stop sign, or if the high school football team wins the state championship and a city wants to hold a parade. Should your city need approval from Tallahassee to move forward on these small, time-sensitive issues? Does Governor DeSantis need to approve a parade route? Definitely not.

We are seeing yet another instance of hypocrisy from the Republicans who control the state. When I was a Republican, Home Rule in Florida was something we would have trumpeted nationally as a victory for small, unintrusive government that made the GOP popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, in an effort to chip away at the home rule principle, DeSantis signed two pieces of legislation that not only disregarded the power of local municipalities but put Florida’s working class at risk. He prevented local governments from creating heat-related protections for workers and limited Florida cities’ abilities to use their influence on RFPs (request for proposals) to seek higher wages for workers on municipal projects (see the link above for more details).

Plain and simple, the Republicans are consolidating power in Tallahassee because they can. They are passing legislation to limit opposition party power by dismantling Home Rule because it prevents local governments from being as effective and efficient as they should be. It provides easy fodder for Republicans to say that the blue parts of Florida are governed poorly, when in fact it is the red team that is playing dirty and changing the rules of the game. That shouldn’t be surprising based on how the Republican Party has morphed under Trump and DeSantis, but it should be something that Floridians take notice of and fight against.

When I take office in Tallahassee in 2025, I will fight against these harmful pieces of legislation. Join me and put Florida back on a path to Home Rule.

Yours in Good Government,

Chuck

Learn more here: DeSantis is chipping away at Home Rule