Florida Legislative Update
 
August 15, 2005
 
Lawrence Sellers- Tallahassee

Legislative Leaders Identify Interim Projects

The Florida Legislature concluded its 2005 Regular Session on May 6, 2005, but legislators and committee staff already are preparing for the 2006 session. House Speaker Allan Bense and Senate President Tom Lee have approved a variety of interim projects. These projects are considered by committee staff in the “interim” before the next legislative session and often lead to the introduction of legislation, so they can provide a clue as to what will be on the agenda for the coming year. Projects to be considered by the committees with jurisdiction over environmental and land use issues include reviews of land acquisition under the Florida Forever Program, the Solid Waste Management Act, Everglades restoration, infrastructure planning and funding for water supplies, and developments of regional impacts (DRIs), as well as a post-session review of the recently enacted comprehensive growth management measure, SB 360.

House Speaker Appoints Select Committee to Protect Private Property Rights

Based on concerns about the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in the Kelo case, Florida House Speaker Allan Bense appointed a select committee of the Florida House of Representatives to review Florida’s Constitution, as well as relevant statutes, rules and ordinances “in an effort to make sure the private property rights of Florida citizens are protected.” Representative Marco Rubio was appointed chairman of the select committee. As of this writing, no meetings of the committee have yet been scheduled.

For a recap of the 2005 Florida legislative session, see Holland & Knight’s Eyes on Tallahassee /id24660/PublicationId1878/ReturnId31/contentid48322/

For more information, e-mail Lawrence Sellers at lawrence.sellers@hklaw.com or call toll free, 1-888-688-8500.