Mayors Oppose Marco Rubio’s Proposed Home Rule Authority

Published May 1st, 2008

By Nicol Jenkins
Editor

“He’s attacking every city,” said Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook.
Brook is in opposition to Florida House of Representatives speaker Marco Rubio’s legislative proposal, which would remove Home Rule Authority from cities and give the state governance over how cities spend tax dollars.

“How far do they want to go to limit our ability to govern our municipality? One size does not fit all,” Brook added.

Parkland Mayor Michael Udine is also against the proposal that would take control away from the city.

“The idea of having the state determine how cities spend city tax dollars is a horrible idea,” said Udine. “The city governments are the branches of government closest to the people. When something happens in someone’s local neighborhood, they call their Mayor, City Commissioner or city staff, think of the burden if they had to run to the state to discuss spending issues. It won’t work and it is a horrible public policy for residents of the City of Parkland.”

Rubio’s Position

In Marco Rubio’s letter to House members on a summary of 2008 legislative priorities, he stated, “If we are going to return Florida to the path of prosperity, we must ensure that our state is once again affordable for Floridians and an attractive place to do business. Implementing long-term, meaningful revenue caps on state and local governments will prevent Florida taxpayers from experiencing the sticker shock we are currently experiencing. If reasonable limits are not placed on government growth, our citizens will inevitably find themselves in this position again.”

The letter continued, “Revenue limits are effective because they force government leaders to prioritize spending and make choices, the way normal families live every day. The spending decisions made during earlier flush times have placed our budget in distress today. When we limit revenue growth, maximize our reserve savings, and then return excess tax revenues to the taxpayers in times of plenty, we’ll help keep the growth of government at a reasonable level and protect our economic future.”

Rubio concluded, “As with any reform effort, accountability is essential to improvement. The government spending accountability measures being considered in the House are an exciting step forward.”