The Florida House Thursday passed bills reforming growth management and taking aim at pill mills.

The growth management bill, sponsored by Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, lowers the state’s role on development, giving more authority to local governments. Environmentalists lined up against the measure, arguing it will lead to more sprawl. Workman’s bill passed with 86 votes for and 31 against.

With Republicans, led by debate manager Rep. Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange, speaking for Workman’s proposal and Democrats attacking it, the two sides engaged in limited debate on the bill, having reached an agreement earlier in the week.

“This great bill empowers local governments and protects citizens,” said Rep. Fred Costello, R-DeLand. Costello argued the measure would reduce regulations and costs for local governments by allowing them to be more flexible.

Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, led Democrats, managed by Rep. Jim Waldman of Coconut Creek, in opposing the measure, which changed the original state growth management law established in 1985.

“This comes down to a philosophical difference,” said Randolph, who insisted that the bill would make growth management plans “worthless” and would lead to an increase in sprawl.

Democrats, led by Rep. Darren Soto of Orlando and Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, pointed to the large number of empty houses and developments across the Sunshine State, arguing the measure would lead to increased taxes and hurt the environment.

“This bill is an environmental nightmare,” insisted Pafford.

Republicans insisted the measure would give local governments more home-rule authority.

“My highest priority was, let locals be locals, and if this bill does anything at all, it protects home rule,” argued Workman at the close of the debate. “It will reform growth management for decades to come.

“This legislation modernizes Florida’s growth management system by removing layers of state oversight and one-size-fits-all solutions, and gives local governments the flexibility and control to implement locally relevant approaches to growth management, while refocusing the role of the state on protecting resources and facilities of state significance,” noted Workman. “These changes are necessary to enable local governments to quickly respond to economic opportunities rather than having to cut through multiple layers of bureaucratic red tape.”

“The current laws that govern growth management in our state are outdated and irrelevant to today’s Florida and they place unnecessary, stringent regulations on local governments, making the system rigid and slow to respond to economic development activities,” said House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, after the vote. “This legislation corrects that imbalance by providing needed flexibility to local governments and reducing overly burdensome oversight by the state.”

The House also passed a measure, sponsored by Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, taking aim at pill mills on 116 votes in favor and only Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne, voting in opposition.

“This is an epidemic we face,” said Schenck. “What your vote today does is makes the state of Florida the toughest in the Union to get these drugs.”
The measure, unlike previous versions of the legislation, would continue the state prescription drug database. Republicans and Democrats alike took to the floor to speak in favor of the bill, insisting that the Sunshine State was facing an epidemic, noting that seven Floridians died every day due to being addicted to prescription drugs. Some of the representatives offered personal stories, sharing tales about family members, friends and neighbors who have been addicted to prescription drugs.