Florida hurricane recovery bill faces calls for partial repeal after ‘unintended consequences'

Calls to repeal parts of hurricane recovery bill

It was a bill aimed at helping communities recover faster from hurricanes, but some organizations say unintended consequences give local governments less control and want part of the bill repealed. Genevieve Curtis reports.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - A new Florida law pitched as a way to help communities rebuild faster after hurricanes is drawing backlash from local communities, organizations and some local officials, who say it actually limits city and county control.

State Rep. Linda Chaney (R–St. Pete Beach) says she’ll seek to repeal portions of the measure in the next legislative session.

What is SB 180?

The backstory:

Signed in July, SB 180 was billed as a hurricane recovery bill. The legislation passed with near-unanimous support and aims to streamline post-storm permitting, reduce certain fees, and expand training for emergency management officials.

"So that bill was written out of experience, real-life experience. So there’s a lot of good things in that bill," Chaney said. "And then the poison pill of the local preemption got put in, which I’m trying to fix."

READ: Tropical Storm Erin moving west, expected to become first Atlantic hurricane of 2025 season

Temporary preemption on local rules

Dig deeper:

A separate section of the law blocks cities and counties impacted by Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton from changing local development rules until October 2027. Some say that moratorium undercuts efforts to address flood risk and growth management while communities are still recovering.

"The broad overreach of a couple of sections puts more Floridians in danger of things like damaging floods, increased pollution, and sprawl," said Kim Dinkins, policy and planning director at 1000 Friends of Florida. "It ties the hands of local governments…makes them ineligible to change any of their policies or procedures or regulations."

The Tampa Bay area experienced significant flooding and damage during the 2024 hurricane season.

Manatee County says it can’t add protections

Local perspective:

In Manatee County, commissioners have publicly raised concerns that the new law prevents them from enacting additional wetlands protections aimed at reducing flooding.

"If a local government can’t respond to those issues that are causing things like flooding, water quality problems, and sprawl, then they aren’t able to help the citizens who are relying on them to make those decisions," Dinkins said.

PREVIOUS: Hurricane Milton caused over $351M in property damage in Manatee County

Concerns from State Rep. Linda Chaney

What they're saying:

Chaney says she plans to file legislation in the 2026 session to repeal the preemption pieces of SB 180 while keeping the streamlined recovery provisions intact.

FOX 13 has reached out to the bill’s authors and will update this story when we hear back.