On Friday, a near-reversal of the stateās 25-year-old growth-management law became law. H.B. 7207 was approved by both the House and Senate at the close of the heavily critiqued legislative session. The billĀ aims to reduce state oversight over local land planning decisions, allowing cities and counties greater control in approving new developments. Environmental groups argued that the bill could lead to unregulated sprawl and harm Floridianās quality of life.
According to Free Market Florida, the group that sprung from the ashes of the successful campaign against last yearās āHometown Democracyā amendment, H.B. 7207 āremoves redundant layers of state bureaucracy and returns greater authority over growth decisions to local governments.ā
āThis is a big step in the right direction,ā said Ryan Houck, executive director of Free Market Florida, in a press release. āIn returning power to Floridaās individual communities, lawmakers are restoring some commonsense to the economic development process. For working Floridians, itās going to mean more jobs, fewer delays, and greater economic freedom.ā
In his release, Houck said claims by environmental groups opposed to H.B. 7207 were ānonsenseā:
The primary purpose of this legislation is to make sure government isnāt doing the same job twice. Some environmental interests donāt like that because it will mean fewer opportunities for them to impede free enterprise and fewer opportunities to sue taxpayers.
Free Market has been very critical of environmental groups in recent months. The group launched a campaign devoted entirely to opposing a set of federally mandated nutrient criteria for Florida waterways in March and has continued releasing videos and press releases opposing the criteria since.
