A.G. Gancarski
A second Senate committee advanced legislation to give consolidated government Sheriffs more latitude in shifting funds in their budgets.
The Rules panel advanced Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough’s bill (SB 1704) that would allow a Sheriff, including one of a consolidated city/county government, to move funds “between the fund and functional categories” without the approval of the County Commission or Budget Commission after their budget is approved by the legislative body. This independence extends to procurement and personnel issues.
The legislation is backed by the Florida Sheriffs’ Association, and was presented by Sen. Danny Burgess in committee Wednesday. A technical amendment was added in committee that simply clarified preexisting language in the bill.
Republican Rep. Wyman Duggan is carrying the companion bill (HB 1447), which was temporarily postponed in Wednesday’s meeting of the State Affairs Committee due to an amendment that changed the title, requiring that procedural delay. It’s not likely that postponement will slow the bill’s progress though.
Both sponsors represent Jacksonville, which has a Democratic Mayor and a Republican Sheriff that don’t always align. In the consolidated government, the Sheriff’s budget has a particular provenance and has been a flashpoint in the past.
Locals will remember a move from 2020 by former City Councilman Garrett Dennis, now a senior staffer for Mayor Donna Deegan, to hold half of the Sheriff’s budget in abeyance “below the line.”
That gambit didn’t succeed. But given worries about the Deegan administration from the city’s GOP establishment, this bill could be considered to be of a piece with other legislation attempting to curb mayoral powers.
The legislation moves forward even as Jacksonville’s local government passed legislation Tuesday that would allow the Sheriff to have a say in settlements involving his department.
4 comments
Dangerous florida
February 14, 2024 at 12:21 pm
The Christian police state continues apace. Letting these trigger-happy racists ‘hunt’ citizens and then stand outside a school shooting for ages…
Sure, go live in florida; til you are shot to death for beeping at a car.
Larry Gillis, Libertarian (Cape Coral)
February 14, 2024 at 12:34 pm
Why not just give each of the Sheriffs an 18-wheeler full of 100s and say, “Go, get ‘the Bad Guys”? In fact, why not simply give each Sheriff’s Office a direct taxing power and cut out the middleman here? I mean, don’t you see what’s going on here? This whole approach is a menace to any possible system of reasoned governance.
This bill has achieved something I did not think possible: it actually makes county Commissioners look good.
MH/Duuuval
February 14, 2024 at 10:38 pm
The irony here is that TK Waters of Duval is pushing for more leverage about settling lawsuits out of court, which may shift some of the burden to individuals in blue. FOP asleep at the wheel on this one.
MH/Duuuval
February 15, 2024 at 10:46 am
Hard to say if one should laugh or cry at the antics of Clay Yarborough who received the stamp of approval from Dee to win the Senate seat — knowing the other contenders were total fools for MAGA.
“White-shoe” Duggan manages to get in his licks for MAGA while following the more-traditional country-club politics of the former GOP in which MONEY RULES.
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