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Lately, 1000 Friends of Florida has been hyper focused on bringing attention to the over-reaching and perhaps unlawful provisions of Senate Bill 180 from the 2025 legislative session that hamstrings local governments from dealing with growth issues in their communities.
Recently, Senator Nick DiCeglie, the sponsor of SB 180 acknowledged that the bill goes too far in limiting local planning authority and has committed to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session to fix it (Read more here). Though nothing has been filed by his office yet, we are grateful for his willingness to address the harmful sections of SB 180 and hopeful that the fix restores local governments’ ability to protect the environment, manage flooding and guide growth.
So far, Representative Abbott and Senator Gaetz have filed identical bills (HB 217 and SB 218) that would exempt counties in limited areas of northeast, northwest and southeast Florida from the 3-year freeze for community plans, because they only qualified for certain federal funds in the 2024 storm season. Unfortunately, most of the state would still be unable to address local land use planning issues until at least 2027.
We have continued to gather information about communities who have either been notified by the Department of Commerce that their proposed plans violate SB 180 or have stopped working on plans due to the new restrictions. If you have a local case example you’d like to share with us, please complete our Google Form here.
In addition to our lawsuit, we joined over 60 organizations in a letter calling on legislators to fix SB 180. You, our members have sent more than 2,000 emails asking for the same.
As part of our mission at 1000 Friends of Florida, we strive to help citizens understand and engage with the planning decisions that shape their communities. Your vigilance in responding to this latest assault on local planning demonstrates the essential role of public engagement. Thank you for standing with us in pushing back against SB 180.
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