Republicans in Tallahassee Just Won't Stop Attacking Home Rule

Last week, we saw how developer stooges in Tallahassee have made it much more difficult for the new Manatee County Commission to overturn the horrible decisions made by the previous board, including reversing the gutting of our wetland protections and the decimation of our Future Development Area Boundary. This week, we learned that big government Republicans in Tallahassee are not finished trampling on the conservative principle of home rule.

If there was one issue that dominated the August 2024 Republican primaries in Manatee County, it was the deeply unpopular wetland vote. The trampling of the FDAB wasn't too far behind it, especially after so many communities near the developments that had gained approval via this policy experienced historic flooding during Hurricanes Helene, Debby and Milton. Voters were plainly tired of not being listened to on matters of sustainable growth.

All of the newly elected commissioners had pledged to work to undo such damage. Incumbent George Kruse, who'd voted against the gutting of the wetland policies and led a call to reverse the policy that all but erased the FDAB, won a landslide victory over Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who had championed both. But now that the new board is set to reverse those policies, a ludicrous interpretation of a temporary statute ostensibly meant to allow communities to safely rebuild after devastating storms is being used to prevent them from doing just that.

Senate Bill 250 prohibits communities from implementing “more restrictive or burdensome” requirements than the current comprehensive land use plan, including additional requirements for wetland mitigation until Oct. 1, 2026. It was signed into law in 2023 and made retroactive to 2022. However, Manatee County’s gutting of its wetland protections occurred after both dates, meaning that rescinding the ordinance that removed the protections would not make the rules more restrictive or burdensome than they were at the time specified by the legislation. Nevertheless, a litany of state agencies weighed in to comment on the board’s transmittal of the new ordinance to make a very weak case that it would.

Each agency used the same language and made similarly convoluted, and largely incoherent arguments. The fix clearly seemed to be in. During the same meeting, when the board took up the repeal of comprehensive plan policy 2.1.2.8, which dealt with the FDAB, a land use attorney who had just represented Neal Communities on a rezoning application, hastily entered a letter objecting to the new ordinance, again using SB 250 as the basis. Commissioners responded angrily during the meeting, with Commission Chair George Kruse threatening to move for 100-foot buffers the day SB 250 expired.

However, this week, we learned of a last-minute amendment to the state's 2025 emergency management bill extending the same prohibition statewide through 2027. Kruse took to his social media to tell constituents the following:

“Here in Manatee County, we're currently fighting the state to get your wetland protections back. The agencies are using the previously enacted SB250 to preempt our development code and your right to self-governance. We believe we have a case against that terrible bill. HOWEVER, this year, at the 11th hour, they slipped the SAME language into SB180. This time, it prevents thoughtful and safe changes to development codes for the entire state and enforces it through October 2027! This is a disaster. I can't even fathom how any rational legislature would think this is actually in the best interest of the citizens they vowed to represent. There's only one reason this would be in there, and it's not for you.”

Kruse urged constituents to contact Governor Ron DeSantis and demand he veto the bill. Florida governors enjoy a line-item veto, which means the governor could easily strike that provision without endangering other essential items in the broad bill. DeSantis, who has been as pro-developer as any Florida governor in modern history, is almost certain not to use that power without immense constituent pressure, and not exactly likely to do so even with it. However, Republican legislators have really snubbed their noses at the lame duck governor during this session, so if there is a moment in which it is possible, this would be it.

More importantly, all of your Manatee County representatives in Tallahassee have supported these bills because, like the previous county commission, they do the bidding of the local developers who fatten their campaign coffers. Until voters focus the same amount of energy on state house and senate races as they did the county commission contests last year, we will continue to have local efforts to do what is best for our community undercut by Republicans in Tallahassee who insist that they should make decisions for us instead of the local, small government officials we elected.

Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here.