More on HB 105, The Dangerous Ag Bill, and more...
- IRNA
- Nov 8, 2025
- 8 min read
November 8, 2025 Weekly Newsletter
HB 105: A Solution in Search of a Problem
We first raised the alarm about Representative Robbie Brackett's HB 105 last week. The question still lingering is what is the problem it claims to solve? According to the bill, it seeks to stop "arbitrary or unreasonable enforcement" by local governments. The bill suggests unfair local enforcement impedes growth and undermines trust, so it creates a uniform statewide standard and allows businesses to sue.
This all sounds reasonable... until you think about it a bit more.
Accountability Already Exists. Local governments have robust appeal processes: code enforcement boards, planning hearings, city councils, judicial review, all in public with elected officials facing voters. HB 105 dismisses this democratic framework for expensive litigation.
"Arbitrary" Means "Inconvenient." The bill defines "arbitrary" so broadly that thorough environmental reviews become "unreasonable delays" and professional judgment becomes actionable "deviations." It weaponizes routine governance into lawsuit fodder.
It Attacks Home Rule. The Constitution grants communities home rule because different places have different needs. A "uniform standard" from Tallahassee erases local diversity and democratic self-governance. Why bother having city councils or county commissions?
No Evidence of a Problem. If local enforcement were truly a crisis, we'd see businesses fleeing and successful appeals. Instead, Florida thrives under current systems. The sponsor present no data, just business lobby talking points.
The Target Is Enforcement Itself. By making plaintiffs risk-free while governments pay all legal costs, HB 105 creates deregulation through intimidation. Officials will ask "Can we afford the lawsuit?" instead of "What's right for our community?"
It Empowers the Powerful. Developers and corporations can sue to block regulations. Residents and neighborhood groups cannot use it to enforce protections. One corporate lawsuit can override hundreds of community voices.
Who Benefits? Not residents, environmental groups, or homeowners. This serves development interests and business lobbies who dislike hearing "no."
The Bottom Line: HB 105 weaponizes "fairness" to eliminate the equitable balance and procedures which dismantles local authority and transfers power from communities to corporations. Representative Brackett owes us an answer: What specific problem in our community requires this? Without concrete evidence, this is an assault on home rule disguised as reform. Not only is this unfair, it goes against the fabric of our state, our nation and it is un-American.
The problem HB 105 solves belongs to special interests who view local democracy as an obstacle to profits. Our representative shouldn't be helping them.
How you can Help: Contact Rep. Robbie Brackett: As the sponsor of this harmful legislation, Rep. Brackett needs to hear from constituents about the damage this bill will cause to our community. Let him know that local control matters and that we expect our representative to protect, not undermine, our ability to govern ourselves.
If you are a reader from another county, please reach out to your representatives and let them know that you do not support HB 105 and that they should vote against HB 105 or they risk losing your support.
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Florida's Conservation Lands Under Siege: The Dangerous Farm Bill Coming to 2026
As Florida's 2026 Legislative session approaches, a proposed Farm Bill (located in Senate Bill 290, sponsored by Senator Keith L. Truenow (R-Lake County), threatens to dismantle decades of conservation work and betray the public trust. This legislation would create an pathway to sell off state-owned conservation lands for agricultural conversion. This could devastate Florida's natural heritage and worsen the state's already severe water quality crisis.
A Radical Departure from Conservation
The bill mandates that the Department of Environmental Protection, working with the Department of Agriculture, "shall determine whether any state-owned conservation lands are suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes." Once identified, these lands can be surplused and sold, as the bill's criteria do not require an assessment of their ecological value or the public's investment in protecting them.
Even more troubling, the bill's exemptions are dangerously narrow. While it protects designated state forests, parks, and wildlife management areas, millions of acres acquired through Florida Forever and Preservation 2000 remain vulnerable. These include critical wildlife habitats, water resources, and vital links in the Florida Wildlife Corridor, also known as the lands most at risk.
Built on Flawed Logic
The legislation's fatal flaw lies in how it determines which lands are "suitable" for agriculture. Rather than conducting ecological assessments, the bill borrows a standard from Florida's property tax code. This is the test used to give farms a tax break, so it looks for evidence of commercial farming activity—things like tilling, fencing, or continuous agricultural use—on land that was intentionally preserved in its natural state. This is a test focused on commercial use, not ecological value.
Applying these criteria to pristine forests and wetlands intentionally preserved in their natural state is absurd. It's like judging a library's value based on its potential as a parking garage. The bill systematically ignores the billions of dollars these lands generate through tourism and recreation, their irreplaceable role in filtering water and preventing floods, and their function as habitat for endangered species.
False Safeguards
The bill's purported protections are smoke and mirrors. It requires a "rural-lands-protection easement" on sold properties, but this legal instrument is designed to prevent urban development, not agricultural damage. It offers zero protection against the nutrient pollution, pesticide runoff, and habitat destruction inherent in farming operations.
Furthermore, any new farms established on these public lands would operate under Florida's existing agricultural Best Management Practices program, which operates under a "presumption of compliance" framework. Farmers who simply enroll and sign paperwork are legally presumed to be protecting water quality, regardless of actual pollution levels. This system has demonstrably failed. In watersheds where agriculture dominates and BMP enrollment is high (such as Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie River, the Caloosahatchee) water bodies remain severely impaired by the very pollution BMPs are supposed to control.
The Real Cost
The bill proposes destroying public assets worth billions to Florida's economy, creating new sources of agricultural pollution that will cost taxpayers billions more in cleanup efforts. It converts natural wetlands and forests that currently filter pollutants into new sources of the toxic algae blooms already devastating Florida's coasts.
Floridians have repeatedly voted to tax themselves to purchase these conservation lands for permanent protection. This bill betrays that public trust, creating a backdoor process to privatize public lands for agricultural profit while sticking taxpayers with the environmental cleanup bill.
Florida's conservation legacy hangs in the balance as the 2026 session approaches. This dangerous legislation must be stopped.
State Electeds Contact Information:
Sen. Erin Grall
Phone: 850-487-5025
Email: Grall.Erin.Web@flsenate.gov
Address: 3209 Virginia Avenue, Suite A149, Fort Pierce, FL 34981
Rep. Robbie Brackett
Phone: 772-778-5005
Address: Suite B2-203, 1801 27th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960
Governor Ron DeSantis
Phone: 850-717-9337
Address: The Capitol, 400 S. Monroe St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Taylor Dingle and John Cotugno reelected to Vero Beach City Council (TCPalm) - Taylor J. Dingle and John Cotugno were reelected to the Vero Beach City Council on November 4, 2025, with Dingle leading the race with 1,231 votes (43.96%) and Cotugno taking a close second with 1,202 votes (42.93%), while challenger Heady received 367 votes (13.07%).
Commission tells Flowers ‘No sale!’ Will DeSantis? (Vero News) - In Ray McNulty's opinion, Sheriff Eric Flowers's appeal to Governor DeSantis for an additional $5 million in funding, which the County Commission denied, is an arrogant move that relied on dishonest political attacks and will force the county to either raise taxes or take money from the reserves.
Deletion of files by now-former public works boss creates a new headache for Titkanich (Vero News) - Ray McNulty reports that County Administrator John Titkanich is facing a new administrative headache and criticism from commissioners after the county's recently resigned public works director, Addie Javed, was discovered to have deleted hundreds of files from his computer, prompting an internal investigation.
Former county public works director alleges 'toxic' workplace (Vero News) - Former Indian River County public works director Addie Javed has pushed back against his former bosses' criticisms of his job performance, alleging he was forced to resign from a "toxic" and micromanaged environment where he felt targeted and unsupported.
Florida anglers decry nighttime closure of Sebastian Inlet’s south jetty (Sebastian Daily) - Sebastian Inlet State Park's south jetty will no longer be open for nighttime fishing effective November 12, a decision state officials attribute to camper safety and insufficient staffing funds, which has angered local anglers who value the spot for catching species like snook after dark.
Florida's SB 180: Local Governments Fight Back in Court
We've talked about Florida Senate Bill 180 before, it passed last session and both Senator Grall and Representative Brackett voted for it. It was marketed as hurricane recovery legislation and has triggered two lawsuits challenging what local governments call the most significant assault on home rule in modern Florida history (so far). The law freezes all local land development regulations statewide until 2027, but it may not survive judicial scrutiny.
Two lawsuits filed in Leon County Circuit Court are attacking SB 180 on multiple constitutional fronts. The first lawsuit represents a coalition of more than two dozen cities and counties spanning the entire state, a rare show of unified opposition from local governments. The second comes from 1000 Friends of Florida, a respected smart-growth advocacy organization, joined by an individual resident whose community planning efforts were derailed by the law.
Both legal challenges deploy three core constitutional arguments. First, they claim the bill violates Florida's single-subject rule, which prohibits "logrolling," the practice of bundling unrelated topics into one bill. The most controversial land-use provisions were inserted via last-minute amendment on the final day of session, buried within a bill titled simply "An act relating to emergencies."
Second, the lawsuits argue SB 180 represents an unconstitutional assault on home rule authority, stripping local governments of their constitutional power to manage their own land use and community planning.
Third, they contend the law's central phrase, "more restrictive or burdensome," is unconstitutionally vague, providing no clear standards and inviting arbitrary enforcement. This vagueness has already created chaos, with state agencies sending letters to counties declaring long-planned initiatives suddenly illegal.
The plaintiffs' prospects look strong. Remarkably, the bill's own Senate sponsor, Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-Pinellas County), has publicly admitted the law is an "overreach" and committed to introducing corrective legislation in 2026. This confession severely undermines any state defense and provides powerful ammunition for the courts. Legal experts predict the lawsuits will likely succeed in securing at least a temporary injunction, halting enforcement while the case proceeds. Whether through judicial victory or legislative retreat, Florida's communities are poised to reclaim their constitutional authority from state overreach.
Residents impacted by SNAP freeze can visit UP center for food vouchers (Vero News) - United Against Poverty of Indian River County is offering food vouchers worth 30 percent of normal benefits to local SNAP recipients who have not received their monthly assistance due to an ongoing national freeze caused by the federal government funding shutdown.
DEEP DIVE: These chemicals kill toxic algae. But are they safe? (VoteWater.org) - While the South Florida Water Management District uses hydrogen peroxide-based algaecides like Lake Guard Oxy to effectively treat toxic blue-green algae blooms, concerns persist over documented incidents of overuse and the risk of relying on these chemical "Band-Aids" instead of addressing the root cause of nutrient pollution.
Sebastian approves FIND grants for riverfront parks (Hometown News) - The Sebastian City Council unanimously approved two Florida Inland Navigation District grants totaling $343,250 for shoreline stabilization at the planned Swing & Bench Park and dredging at the Main Street Boat Ramp, while also authorizing staff to sign a $1.5 million grant for future improvements at Riverview Park.
November 2025 Peligram (Pelican Island Audubon Society) - The November 2025 Peligram newsletter announces upcoming RiverKidz events and meetings on ornithology and gopher tortoises , features articles on the healing power of nature and environmental music , reports on the Audubon Advocates' hands-on science lessons , and requests support through a wine raffle and the "Adopt an Advocate" program.
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