Senate Bill 280 cruised through the Florida Legislature.
But are cracks in the bill beginning to show before its presentation to Gov. Ron DeSantis?
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said April 11 that the city’s lobbyist, Tallahassee-based Corcoran Partners, signaled to him the governor’s staff might recommend against DeSantis signing the bill.
“It would appear — if you trust what we hear — that staff is going to be recommending against a signature,” he said.
SB 280 was filed last November by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, and an amended version passed through the state legislature by the time the session ended March 8.
The bill would preempt to the state vacation rental regulations adopted before June 1, 2011.
The measure would establish statewide maximum overnight occupancy limits, limit the number of inspections at each property and cap fines for rental violations to $500.
As of April 12, the bill had yet to be presented to the governor, who will have 15 days following its presentation to sign or veto the legislation.
The legislation will automatically pass if DeSantis takes no action before then. So his veto is needed to kill the bill.
Murphy spoke with DeSantis’ acting chief of staff, Alex, Kelly, in March about his concerns for the bill, such as how its changes to occupancy limits would inflate population in Anna Maria and other coastal cities past the point their infrastructures could handle.
The municipality also provided the governor’s staff with city attorney Becky Vose’s legal opinion on the bill, which establishes several criticisms of the legislation.
“Per our lobbyist, our legal opinion has resonated well with the governor’s staff,” Murphy said. “That point about population … as well as the point that Flagler County was exempted, are the two points that they plan on presenting to the governor for his consideration prior to signing.”
In the meantime, Murphy said the city was preparing another email campaign using its website, homerulefl.com, to oppose SB 280.