Staff Reports
The House passed legislation Wednesday (HB 7) that would allow public notices to go on city websites instead of the local paper.
“Something doesn’t have to be broken for there to be a better way,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Randy Fine, said in close.
The Palm Bay Republican said newspapers were central to life decades ago, but that’s no longer the case today.
“This is a subsidy to a dying industry,” Fine thundered ahead of the 71-47 vote, which saw some Republicans crossover to join Democrats in dissent.
Current law requires state government and local government entities, such as sheriff’s departments and tax collector offices, to purchase newspaper advertising to let the public know about important deadlines, code changes or events.
HB 7 would require such notices to be posted on a “publicly accessible website,” defined as “a governmental agency’s official website or other private website designated by the governmental agency for the posting of legal notices and advertisements that is accessible via the Internet.”
The bill doesn’t ban agencies from buying newspaper ads, though it would allow for another type of print advertising: direct mail.
Under the legislation, governmental agencies would need to buy an ad once a year in a publication “delivered to all residents and property owners throughout the government’s jurisdiction” letting them know that they can register to receive public notices by email or snail mail.
Democrats, ahead of the vote, tried in vain to kill the bill.
Rep. Susan Valdes said that newspaper notices were cost-effective: “36 cents per person … less than the cost of a stamp.”
Rep. Joe Geller said it was a “bad bill last year” and remains a “bad bill this year.”
“Some of us old-timers still like newspapers,” Geller said, with rural and minority communities still reliant on the fading form of media.
Rep. Ben Diamond contended that changing notices amounted to another legislative attack on “government in the sunshine.”
Fine said the bill expanded sunshine, allowing people to get public notices without paying a publisher for the privilege.
In the Senate, Sen. Joe Gruters‘ companion legislation (SB 1340) was not heard in committee.
It remains to be seen if the Senate will take up the House version of the bill in what appears to be a jumbled and rushed end to Session.
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Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski, Drew Wilson, and Jacob Ogles contributed to this post.
