Four Bills in Florida: A Case Study in Legislative Power Grabs
A Deep Dive into Four Connected Bills in the 2025 Legislative Session in Florida and their Broader Implications
For this issue, I thought we'd look into some things we're up against. Right now the Florida Legislative Session is in full swing. If you're unaware, the FL legislature is essentially a part-time job. The pay is less than $30k/year, and they have about two months of legislative work annually, with the rest of their time spent back in their districts or on special sessions when there's a big issue or when the governor wants to make a point.
Because of this compressed government format, monitoring the session requires vigilance. Things change constantly. Bills are edited and move quickly. A bill that looks dead could suddenly sprint through three committees in a day. Evil lobbyist-written bills can appear with a week left in session and nearly pass (see SB 2508 from 2022 for a perfect example). So I'd like to examine a series of bills I've been watching and highlight why the quiet work of your state legislature can muck up your life even more thoroughly or at least as thoroughly as the federal circus happening in Congress.
Home Rule: The Concept Politicians Love... Until They Don't
Before diving into details, let's talk about "Home Rule." This concept allows local governments (County, City, Town, etc.) to self-govern to a certain degree. It's particularly helpful in diverse places like Florida—anyone who's visited knows that Pensacola is nothing like Key West. Having identical rules for both would be absurd. (Coral reef protection in Pensacola? Not exactly a pressing concern like it is in Key West.)
The funny thing about home rule in Florida is that politicians adore it when they sit on City Councils or County Commissions, but the moment they reach the legislature, they suddenly want to consolidate power at the state level. It's never about the principle of local control but rather about who wields the power. (I've always found it ironic that the same people screaming about states' rights don't give a flip about local control. It reveals the game: it's not about which level of government has authority, but about controlling power wherever they happen to be. Don't worry—we'll discuss power dynamics more in future newsletters.)
Some state constitutions specifically grant home rule authority, outlining matters not preempted by state law. It's simply more efficient. Imagine needing to visit the state capitol instead of city hall for a permit to renovate your garage! I've also found that one-size-fits-all approaches rarely work. Even neighboring towns can have dramatically different priorities.
Four Bills That Could Remake Florida's Communities (Without Your Input)
A series of proposed bills—HB 943, HB 1209, SB 1118, and SB 1730—could fundamentally alter how communities across Florida develop, effectively sidelining local input on critical land use decisions.
These similar bills would all preempt local zoning authority in various ways:
Forced Rezoning: The state would compel cities and towns to allow apartment buildings and mixed residential/business properties in areas currently zoned for businesses, factories, or mixed uses. Local governments couldn't block these developments, adjust zoning rules, or even hold public meetings where residents could voice concerns.
Automatic Approvals: If a developer includes the bare minimum of affordable housing or meets certain farm area requirements, city officials must rubber-stamp the project automatically. The normal process—community input at public meetings, local board reviews—would be completely bypassed.
Height Restrictions Eliminated: Cities can't prevent developers from building structures as tall as the tallest building within a mile radius. If no tall buildings exist nearby, developers can still build up to three stories. If one tall building already exists in your neighborhood, your local government can't stop more buildings of that same height—goodbye to maintaining neighborhood character.
Reduced Parking Requirements: Cities must allow developers to build with at least 20% fewer parking spaces than normally required. Near public transit, developers won't need to include ANY parking at all. Picture new apartment buildings, shopping centers, or offices with inadequate parking for residents, customers, or employees.
Costly Legal Traps: If a city denies a building project, developers can fast-track lawsuits against the local government. When developers win, taxpayers must cover not only the developer's losses and legal fees but also penalties up to $100,000. This financial threat makes local governments hesitant to reject development plans, even with legitimate concerns.
No Construction Pauses: Local governments cannot temporarily pause construction projects unless they meet very specific state requirements. Serious concerns about water supply don't even qualify as valid reasons for these pauses, despite growing water shortages across Florida. Towns must keep approving new buildings even when legitimate resource concerns exist.
Supermajority Requirements: Three bills would require supermajorities (two-thirds or three-fourths of council members) to change growth plans if those changes restrict development—making it much harder for local governments to implement new regulations.
I could go on about other harmful provisions like eliminating local review of impact fees, allowing infill development regardless of infrastructure capacity, and more. But these are just four bills out of over a thousand. Only one needs to pass each chamber before being reconciled, just like in Congress.
Preemption to Real-World Consequences
What would these changes mean for your daily life? Picture this:
That vacant lot near your house suddenly sprouting a six-story apartment complex with inadequate parking, forcing residents to compete for street parking on your block
Your morning commute being 30 minutes longer because new developments were approved without addressing traffic infrastructure
Water pressure dropping in your shower as more developments tap into already-strained water systems
Trees and wetlands that once absorbed stormwater being cleared, leading to increased flooding in nearby neighborhoods
And when concerned residents attend public meetings to voice these worries? They'd be told, "Sorry, the state has removed our authority to consider these factors."
Special Interests Write the Rules
It's not a stretch to suggest these bills were at least partially written by special interests or developers. They would hobble local governments and worsen quality of life for residents—more overdevelopment, more congestion, more pollution, more traffic, and no recourse for citizens.
Florida already has laws making it harder to challenge development. Senate Bill 540 from 2023 creates financial risks for citizens who oppose construction projects. If someone sues to stop a development and loses, they must pay all legal costs for the developer and other parties—potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. The law also restricts valid reasons to challenge developments in the first place, requiring citizens to prove the project significantly changes land use in direct conflict with the city's growth plan. Concerns about traffic, environmental impact, or neighborhood character often no longer qualify as legitimate objections.
These changes actively discourage ordinary people from speaking up against potentially harmful developments, facing severe financial penalties if they lose in court.
One Size Does Not Fit All
So what do we have when we take all this together? A mess, that's what.
One-size-fits-all approaches simply don't work. That's a primary reason we have a federal system. Different solutions work better in different places. Yes, we need unified laws on certain fundamentals—murder, rights, etc. But many issues are community-specific. In turtle nesting areas of Florida, outdoor lights can't shine toward the ocean. This law would make zero sense in Iowa, or even in Orlando! Neither has significant coastline.
The Long Game of Special Interests
Advocacy remains vital, even when the odds seem long. We may not stop these bills this year—the presence of four similar proposals signals strong special interest support. But that doesn't mean we roll over.
The Florida Legislature attracts special interests who operate like persistence hunters—wearing down their prey through relentless pursuit. Many of these provisions appeared in bad bills last session, and the session before that. We've stopped some of them previously, but they keep returning. How many times can advocates ask supporters to contact legislators about the same provisions we defeated last year?
Their answer: until we go bankrupt. When a special interest spends $100,000 trying to pass a bill and fails, they'll spend another $100,000 next year, plus a few campaign contributions to friendly politicians. $100,000 isn't much when passage could generate millions in profit.
It's cheaper to buy the state legislature than to purchase influence with every city council and county commission. By centralizing power at the state level, special interests can achieve their goals more efficiently. And who bears the cost? Local communities.
Keep Fighting Anyway
It's admittedly a disheartening situation. Yet we must keep fighting, year after year, until these harmful bills stop returning. Winning is difficult, and special interests often prevail, fueling public apathy that makes advocacy even harder.
We've all heard the defeatist refrains: "It's a lost cause" or "They never listen to us." There's some truth there. But we still live in a democratic system with elected officials who can be held accountable. Occasionally, when advocates tackle an issue that gains public momentum, politicians can't ignore it without risking their careers.
Effective advocacy isn't just about defeating bad politicians—we don't even need to vote them out to succeed. Sometimes we can work with them. There's a reason many moderate politicians get elected; they play the game and occasionally listen to constituent concerns. That may seem increasingly rare, but it still happens.
So what can we do about these four bills specifically? Talk about them. That's the first step of advocacy. Engagement matters. You never know when your conversation might activate someone else's advocacy machine. We build community to strengthen our community. We can beat bills like this, though we don't always win. That's reality.
The fight for local control isn't glamorous, but it directly affects our daily lives in ways federal politics often doesn't. So call your representatives, spread the word, and remember that persistence is our most powerful weapon against special interests who are counting on our exhaustion and surrender.
Because if we don't fight for our communities, who will?