A win for developers? Florida lawmakers fail to restore local control over growth

A controversial Florida law that gives developers and state agencies broad veto powers over local government could remain in place for at least another year.

Senate Bill 180 became law in 2025. Since then, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and developers have used the law to block local governments from passing measures to slow down growth, update building codes or strengthen local environmental protections.

In Manatee County, for example, the law has prevented local officials from restoring wetland protections previously removed at the urging of developers. When Manatee commissioners wanted to update the county’s development boundary to prevent massive housing projects from sprawling into agricultural areas, the state blocked them with SB 180. And the county’s move to raise impact fees paid by developers was met with a lawsuit from influential builders who argue that the fees violate SB 180.

Other cities and counties around the state have encountered similar setbacks from SB 180.

However, opponents of the law are hopeful that home rule can be restored sooner than next year’s legislative session — either through an ongoing court case or lawmaker action during a special session in Tallahassee later this year.

Florida Senate’s attempt to fix SB 180 fails

The conflict surrounding SB 180 caught the attention of some state lawmakers, including one of the original sponsors of the legislation, who said it was never intended to go so far.

State Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, defended the hurricane recovery aspects of SB 180, but acknowledged problems, noting that it “cast too wide a net,” and resulted in the “paralyzation” of local governments around the state.

In response, DiCeglie introduced a new measure to revise the most controversial aspects of SB 180 during the 2026 legislative session. His new bill, SB 840, passed the Senate unanimously.

But after receiving DiCeglie’s bill, House leadership assigned it to a committee that was not scheduled to meet for the rest of the session, effectively killing it — a move that DiCeglie calls “unfortunate.”

“This session, the Senate made it a top priority to fine tune Senate Bill 180 through Senate Bill 840 after hearing thoughtful feedback from fellow senators, local elected officials, and our constituents,” DiCeglie said in a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald. “While meaningful progress was made on the Senate side to address these concerns, it is unfortunate that the Florida House of Representatives did not take up Senate Bill 840 in committee.”

“I made every effort to advance these improvements, including exploring opportunities to incorporate the language into other legislation, but ultimately those paths risked complicating or slowing other priorities,” the statement continued. “As a result, some of the refinements identified by communities and stakeholders across Florida were not finalized this session.”

House Republicans quiet or deflect blame on failed SB 180 fix

The only attempt to address concerns about SB 180 in the House came from state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democratic lawmaker from Orlando. After it became clear that House leadership would not take up SB 840, Eskamani tried twice to introduce fixes to SB 180 into a different House bill. Both times, House leadership ruled Eskamani’s amendments “out of order” and blocked a vote.

“Cities and counties across the state have raised serious concerns about how this law has created confusion, exposed communities to litigation and undermined responsible growth management,” Eskamani said in a statement on her website. “Rather than allow those fixes to be debated, the House went into informal recess as I was closing on my amendment, and then ruled my amendment out of order.”

House Republicans’ choice not to revise SB 180 comes after months of public outcry from community members, local government officials and advocacy organizations asking for change.

“There are a lot of communities that are stuck not being able to implement these policies that they’ve been working on for years,” 1000 Friends of Florida Executive Director Kim Dinkins previously told the Bradenton Herald. “It’s really harming the ability of local governments to do the work that they’re authorized to do.”

State representatives have stayed relatively quiet about the blowback.

Rep. Fiona MacFarland, R-Sarasota, who sponsored SB 180 in the House last year, chose not to introduce a counterpart to DiCeglie’s fix bill this year. MacFarland did not respond to a request for comment.

The inaction has left some officials and residents to speculate that House lawmakers are unwilling to vote against the interests of influential developers who want SB 180 left unchanged.

“SB 180 wasn’t about hurricane relief. It was a giveaway to developers,” Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said in a social media post Monday. “Local control gutted. Communities sidelined. All by politicians who knew exactly who they were working for.”

Dinkins said 1000 Friends of Florida members sent over 22,000 emails to lawmakers in support of revising SB 180.

“(SB 840) cleared every committee in a unanimous vote in the Senate, but the House refused to take up the issue in any form,” Dinkins said in a recent webinar recapping the legislative session. “The House’s failure to listen not only to our members but to local governments and citizens throughout the state was probably the biggest let down of the session.”

However, some House Republicans say they do want to see SB 180 revised.

State Rep. Bill Conerly, R-Bradenton, called it “regrettable” that a fix for SB 180 did not move forward. Conerly blamed an unproductive legislative session and said he hopes to continue talks about revising SB 180 next year.

“It is regrettable that the legislature was unable to address the necessary revisions to SB 180,” Conerly said in a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald. “Although extensive discussions and deliberations occurred regarding how to best refine the statute —specifically to provide local governments with clearer guidance on how the law should apply — unfortunately, the tensions between the legislature and the governor allowed many good bills to die in the processes. I remain committed to collaborating with local government officials to pursue these essential changes during the next legislative session, should the court not provide a definitive ruling in the interim.”

SB 180 critics say fight isn’t over to restore home rule

For now, local governments will be left with fewer tools to regulate development and plan growth. Manatee County Commission Chairman Tal Siddique said that leaves local leaders in a tough spot, but they are looking for other ways to move their priorities forward.

“It’s hurting every day people,” Siddique said. “They are taking away the ability of local governments and people in the community to make decisions for themselves.”

Siddique also warned of election consequences for those who ignore the controversy surrounding SB 180.

“The Legislature owes us a fix, and they cannot rest on their laurels,” Siddique said. “This is an election year, and many voters are going to remind them of that. There are people challenging everyone running for office, and I think that’s a good thing. It reminds people that they are not invincible.”

Siddique and other local leaders are calling on House leadership not to wait until next year to fix the bill. Some critics of SB 180 see a slim chance for lawmakers to revise the law during a special session later this year. The Florida Legislature must meet at least once more in 2026 to finalize the state budget after they failed to reach an agreement during regular session.

“House leadership needs to find a solution,” Siddique said.

Will lawsuits stop SB 180?

There’s also a chance that parts of SB 180 could be struck down in court.

A pair of lawsuits that assert SB 180 violates Florida’s constitution and is overly vague are still playing out in the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida.

The plaintiffs include a roster of cities and counties affected by SB 180, as well as 1000 Friends of Florida and Orange County resident Rachel Hildebrand.

Defending SB 180 are several state agencies — as well as developers, who successfully petitioned the court to intervene in the lawsuits as co-defendants.

So far, Judge Angela C. Dempsey has made several rulings in favor of state agencies and developers, including dismissing a majority of the plaintiffs’ claims against SB 180. Dempsey also declined to grant an injunction request that would have frozen the law until the case is decided.

The case brought by Florida cities and counties now rests on the claim that SB 180 created an unfunded mandate.

In the other case, Dempsey dismissed 1000 Friends of Florida’s complaints, but allowed two of Hildebrand’s claims to proceed: one that SB 180 should be voided due to vagueness and another that it is “arbitrary and capricious.”