Bill to give every business in Florida veto power is overkill

Much ill-conceived Florida legislation dies a deserved death, but one far-reaching abomination that threatens all 67 counties has actually won a committee OK.

If you believe in local control, you’ll shudder at Senate Bill 280. Its chilling power is that any county ordinance that lowers revenues or profits of any business would open the door to a lawsuit to automatically freeze the legislation and could force the county to reimburse a business for all it claims to have lost – including hoped-for sales it never made.

Of course, this bill by Travis Hutson of St. Augustine would not affect the state, which can pass laws all day that harm businesses and never pay a penny. But that’s the idea: have Tallahassee regulate everyone while barring county control.

The bill, which last week passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee, would require something new: an estimate of direct economic impact on businesses of every county ordinance, including costs to comply and every new charge or fee, and the ordinance’s regulatory cost and the number of businesses it affects. 

Imagine the cost to study this for every sort of new ordinance – the bill lists no exceptions.

But a bigger peril is a court threat. Any business that says a new ordinance cost it 15% of revenue or profits could sue the county to pocket that 15% and force the county to pay up to $50,000 of its legal bill too. One opposing senator called the bill “a trial lawyer’s dream.” 

Any business that doesn’t like any legislation could sue, automatically road-blocking enforcement until the suit was resolved. Oh, and if the business loses the suit it can appeal, which under the bill would again bar enforcement.

A business would never have to win to negate county action. It just has to drag out a case and then the appeal. The county’s hands would be tied for years, giving any business veto power.

What are grounds to sue? That the ordinance does something preempted by the state constitution or state law – which seem to be very fair grounds – or that the ordinance is “arbitrary or unreasonable,” which can be argued to death. What’s unreasonable to me may seem reasonable to you. Indeed, what’s reasonable is the basis of political battles. That’s why we have more than one political party.

Businesses don’t need this proposed law to sue now. Anyone can sue.

But this bill, as an opponent points out, would add dangerous new superpowers to automatically stall ordinances for perhaps years with assurances of restitution of anything an ordinance might cost a business – either tangible or a “might have been” payment for what it never earned after a law passed. 

Tallahassee has been waging war on counties for years to restrict local actions. This has been true in particular of efforts to safeguard South Florida’s fragile environment by preventing man-made substances from entering our waters or littering our beaches.

This bill is a direct attack on 67 counties by handing every business the right to automatically halt legislation in its tracks. Even if the business has no case, it can bar county action via a nuisance suit. Further, while this bill holds counties responsible, it lists no penalty for suing to achieve political rather than economic ends. If you don’t like an ordinance, just sue and you’ve stopped it cold. You can lose the suit and win your objective.

Do you think that’s an accident? Or a simple message to counties from Tallahassee to leave everything to the state or else?

This bill should have been dead on arrival. It’s a clear effort to tie the hands of counties. It’s overkill – businesses already have remedies in the courts. 

The bill could, purely and simply, freeze legislation via a frivolous suit that has no chance in court, giving any business veto power. Even for the Florida Legislature, that’s a step too far.