As usual, Florida’s know-it-all Legislature banned Miami-Dade from doing these things | Opinion

The Florida Legislature sure has a tendency to tell how local communities should conduct their business — and the 2024 legislative session was no different.

Local preemptions — the banning of what counties and cities can do — have become a guarantee every time lawmakers gather in Tallahassee. Some seem to have forgotten that they represent the very same communities whose hands they are tying. Unfortunately, pressure from business interests often speaks louder than loyalty to constituents.

This state interference undermines local votes. We elect officials in South Florida and elsewhere in the state to solve problems for our community, only to see that authority chiseled away by a partisan state Legislature in which representatives from one distant part of the state make decisions that land on our doorstep.

In the past, the Legislature has reversed the will of Key West voters who opted to limit cruise ships. Lawmakers have mostly forbidden local councils from regulating Airbnbs and other vacation rentals and erased local protections for tenants. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed many of those measures into law, which isn’t surprising coming from a governor who has removed two state attorneys voters elected in their counties.

There is no issue big or small in which the Legislature won’t meddle. Some preemptions that came out of this year’s lawmaking session related to everything from gas-powered leaf blowers to electric fences, appear petty at best — lawmakers tipping the scale simply because they don’t like a decision made by a municipal or county government. Others, if signed into law, will have far-reaching impacts, including in Miami-Dade County.

House Bill 433 prohibits local governments from requiring contractors to pay their workers more than the state minimum wage, which will be $15 per hour in 2026, when the legislation goes into effect if signed into law. Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and Miami Beach, are among the 11 communities that have living wage requirements, which some contractors themselves say equals the playing field when they compete for government contracts.

All the senators from Miami-Dade, with the exception of Republican Sen. Bryan Avila, voted against HB 433. Opposing it were Republican Sens. Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez, and Democratic Sens. Jason Pizzo and Shevrin Jones. In the House, Reps. Vicki Lopez and James Vernon Mooney were the only Republicans representing Miami-Dade who joined Democrats in opposition.

The bill also prohibits local measures meant to protect workers from the kind of extreme heat Florida saw last summer — something Miami-Dade considered last year before the proposal drew fierce push back from the agriculture industry. As a result of the state’s action, the county commission killed an ordinance that would’ve protected 80,000 workers.

The state bill sponsor, Rep. Tiffany Esposito, R- Fort Myers, has said she wants to allow “businesses to do business,” but the Legislature has essentially codified into law that employers cannot be required to provide such simple things as water breaks, shade, rest or even first-aid precautions for heat exposure.

Florida began requiring schools to provide similar basic safety measures to student athletes after the death of a 16-year-old football player from heat stroke in 2017. Despite the death of at least seven outdoor workers in the following two years, as the Tampa Bay Times reported, the state not only refused to act but now wants to stop those who want to.

Who exactly is left alone to “do business” in Florida? Some of the biggest business lobbying organizations in the state, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, pressured lawmakers to pass HB 433, the Herald reported.

In another case, a legal dispute between Orlando and an electric security fence company ended, thanks to the company’s lobbying, with a ban on local regulations on the industry, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Lawmakers also moved to block communities from banning gas-powered leaf blowers — despite the hatred they inspire — after Miami Beach, South Miami and others did so. Also banned are regulations on electric vehicle charging stations and citizen boards that investigate police misconduct. The latter impacts the Miami-Dade Independent Civilian Panel, which has struggled to make progress on investigating cases — and to even reach a quorum at its meetings. Even if the panel has failed to prove its worth, it should be up to county commissioners, not the Legislature, to disband it.

Americans consistently place more trust in their city councils and county commissions — largely nonpartisan bodies —than in their state and federal representatives. At what point will electing people locally become irrelevant if Tallahassee acts as if it knows best?

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This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 12:03 PM.