Jesse Scheckner
Perusing the list of bills Islamorada Rep. Jim Mooney has filed since taking office suggests a couple things: He has little to no interest in pursuing culture war issues, and he wants to help the environment while making things easier on Florida residents, particularly in the Keys.
He’ll continue that work in the coming Legislative Session.
This year, Mooney hopes to pass several interesting proposals that would change Florida’s flood insurance standards, encourage affordable rental rates in his district, establish state standards for mangrove planting and add much-needed e-bike regulations.
He’s also bringing back a measure (HB 81) with Lighthouse Point Rep. Chip LaMarca, a fellow Republican, to designate new Florida state birds.
The bill, if passed, would name the American flamingo as the official state bird of Florida, rather than the mockingbird that’s been the state bird since 1927, and designate the protected Florida scrub-jay as Florida’s official songbird.
Mooney said the change would reflect Florida’s Everglades restoration efforts while also calling attention to ongoing environmental challenges, including commercial development that has encroached on the habitats of myriad state fauna.
“The flamingos are staying around because the environmental work in the Everglades has finally started to turn a corner and allow fresh water to flow south into the Florida Bay. The scrub-jay, it’s under assault from development,” he told Florida Politics.
“But it’s bigger than just the birds. It’s about continuing to preserve our green space and wetlands, which are massive ecosystems.”
Mooney is also re-running a bill that would, among other things, remove a flood insurance requirement from Citizens Property Insurance policies for homes in areas designated as Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zones for properties built a foot or more above the flood line.
Last year’s version of the legislation failed to gain traction.
Mooney noted that the Citizens-required federal flood insurance doesn’t include the contents of a home, which must be insured separately at a steep cost.
“We’re paying an extra $1,000, $2,000 a year to ensure what? Nothing. It doesn’t make sense. So, we’ve got to remove that somehow or figure out how to rectify it,” he said, adding that he plans to work on the issue with fellow Reps. Hillary Cassel and Tom Fabricio, the former of whom he called the House’s “insurance guru.”
Reducing property taxes for magnanimous Keys landlords is also a goal. Mooney will refile legislation he carried in 2024, with support from Doral Republican Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, to give up to 100% ad valorem tax exemptions to property owners who rent housing units at affordable rates.
“The idea is to help incentivize getting more long-term rentals in the pool,” he said. “I think it will work in some areas. I don’t know how many people will do it, but it can’t hurt to try.”
Another returning measure would direct the Department of Environmental Protection to create rules for mangrove planting and restoration. Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia carried its twin last year.
Mooney said the to-be-refiled bill would address a well-intentioned but detrimental practice happening frequently today, where people are planting the wrong mangrove species in the wrong areas, inadvertently curtailing efforts to boost coastal resilience and reduce flooding.
The measure would also require the Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services to study what impact mangrove-planting and other nature-based flood-reduction solutions have on reducing insurance premiums.
“It’s a good bill,” Mooney said. “What we don’t want is to have people wasting their money planting mangroves in the wrong spots. And of course, we’re all working toward living shorelines as opposed to hardened shorelines. We need real, green buffers.”
Inspiration for Mooney’s final priority bill came from tragedy.
Last February, a 66-year-old cyclist was killed in Key Biscayne after she collided with a 12-year-old on an e-bike. The village swiftly passed a temporary ban on electric bikes and scooters. Four months later, the Key Biscayne Council made the ban permanent.
This month, Key West Commissioner Donie Lee initiated a discussion about e-bikes at City Hall, calling them a major concern and point of complaint among his constituents.
Mooney said he’s still ironing out the to-be-filed measure’s provisions, which will impose additional regulations on the micromobility vehicles that can reach speeds of up to 28 mph, according to Florida Statutes.
“They’re everywhere, and we need to do something,” he said. “You see signs that say, ‘Watch out for motorcycles.’ But in the case of e-bikes, they’re not watching for anybody. They’re just running, and they’re not like the little scooters in Tallahassee.”
Mooney has represented House District 120, which covers south Miami-Dade County and all of Monroe County, since 2020. He won re-election with 64% of the vote in November.
The 2025 Legislative Session commences March 4 and runs through May 2.
