TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the holidays right around the corner, you can expect to see an uptick in traffic on the highways.
And with that, you can also expect to face a kind of inconvenience that typically crops up with heavy traffic: slow left-lane drivers.
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These sorts of situations usually involve drivers traveling below the speed limit in the left-most lanes of highways, which is supposed to be a means for faster drivers to pass by slower ones. As a result, these situations can potentially cause traffic congestion as otherwise faster drivers are forced to stick behind the left-lane “camper.”
While it can be an annoyance, many Florida residents and lawmakers alike went so far as to push for political action to keep this from happening.
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Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature approved a bill — House Bill 317 — to do just that.
Under this bill, drivers on a roadway with at least two lanes and a speed limit of at least 65 mph would only be allowed to use the furthest left-hand lane when passing another vehicle, preparing to exit, or when directed by a traffic control device.
In short: this bill was aimed at keeping drivers from simple left-lane camping.
Those who violated the rule would have faced fines of up to $158, and if approved by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the bill would have taken effect on Jan. 1, 2025 — just over a month from now.
However, DeSantis instead opted to veto the bill just a few short days after it hit his desk.
In his veto letter, DeSantis wrote the following explanation for why he made the decision:
“With limited exceptions, this bill prohibits the driver of a motor vehicle from driving in the furthest left-hand lane of any road in Florida with two or more lanes and a posted speed limit of at least 65 miles per hour. Violators would be guilty of a moving violation and subject to a fine of up to $158.
The language of this bill is too broad and could lead to drivers in Florida being pulled over, ticketed, and fined for driving in the furthest left lane even if they are not impeding the flow of traffic or if there are few or no other cars in the immediate area.
In addition, the bill could potentially increase congestion in Florida’s urban areas as drivers may decide to not utilize the furthest left-hand lane at all for fear of being ticketed.
For these reasons, I withhold my approval of HB 317 and do hereby veto the same.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
HB 317 was one of the few bills vetoed by DeSantis during the most recent Legislative session in Florida. Some other examples are listed below.
HB 1 — Social Media Ban for Children
House Bill 1 would have banned minors under 16 from a plethora of different social media platforms.
The bill defined the relevant social media platforms as those that have “addictive features” like infinite scrolling, push notifications, personal interactive metrics (ex: likes on a post or number of followers), auto-play videos, and livestreaming.
Lawmakers pushing for the bill claimed that the business model of many social media platforms are like a “poison” for children thanks to these types of features.
However, a similar bill — HB 3 — was ultimately put forth and signed into law. It instead scales back the age limit from 16 to 14, though 14- and 15-year-olds will be allowed to have accounts with parental consent. That bill takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
In his veto letter for HB 1, DeSantis provided the following explanation:
“I have vetoed HB 1 because the Legislature is about to produce a different, superior bill. Protecting children from harms associated with social media is important, as is supporting parents’ rights and maintaining the ability of adults to engage in anonymous speech.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
SB 494 — Graduate Program Admissions
Senate Bill 494 would have required colleges to waive the GRE and GMAT for servicemembers.
This also applies to those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Florida National Guard, or the U.S. Reserve Forces and were discharged or released under any condition other than dishonorable.
In his veto letter, DeSantis provided the following explanation:
“Standardized tests are a necessary component of a rigorous, merit-based admissions process. While the motivation behind this legislation is laudable, it is not clear that waiving these tests will be beneficial to our institutions or even, in many cases, to the students themselves.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
SB 62 — Residency Status for Tuition Purposes
Senate Bill 62 would have prevented people from losing their residency status for tuition purposes due to incarceration in a state or federal correctional facility.
In his veto letter, DeSantis provided the following explanation:
“Florida’s higher education system has ranked #1 in the country for nearly a decade, in part due to the state’s investment in our institutions over that same period. We should not reward criminal activity by providing inmates with the same benefits as law-abiding citizens.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
SB 280 — Vacation Rentals
Senate Bill 280 aimed to revise the state’s regulation of vacation rentals.
While current law prohibits local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals, this prohibition doesn’t apply to any local ordinances that were adopted on or before June 1, 2011.
As such, this bill would have allowed these local governments to change such ordinances made on or prior to June 1, 2011 to changes these ordinances to be less restrictive. However, this doesn’t impact ordinances in areas of critical state concern.
The bill would also have set more limits on how local governments can regulate vacation rentals, such as the timeframes before relevant fines can be issued, registration programs, and the regulation of advertising platforms related to vacation rentals.
Under this bill, state officials would have been allowed to issue temporary licenses to permit owners to operate their vacation rentals while the license application is pending.
In addition, advertising platforms would have had to verify the validity of vacation rental license numbers and remove listings that fail to display a valid number.
In his veto letter, DeSantis provided the following explanation:
“Beyond creating new bureaucratic red tape that locals must comply with, SB 280 prevents local governments from enforcing existing ordinances or passing any new local measure which would exclusively apply to vacation rentals. Under the bill, any such measure must apply to all residential properties.
The effect of this provision will prevent virtually all local regulation of vacation rentals even though the vacation rental markets are far from uniform across the various regions of the state.
Going forward, I encourage the Florida Legislature and all key stakeholders to work together, with the understanding that vacation rentals should not be approached as a one-size-fits-all issue.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
HB 821 — Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District
House Bill 821 involved the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District, a special district in Brevard County.
This bill would have increased the maximum stormwater management user fee that the district could charge.
In his veto letter, DeSantis provided the following explanation:
“The Legislature passed CS/HB 821, which increases the maximum stormwater management user fees the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District may charge. This will likely lead to Brevard County taxpayers paying higher fees.
As Florida offers many grant programs (established by my Administration) that support the continued maintenance and construction of Florida’s water management infrastructure, the state should not facilitate the imposition of higher fees to this same effect.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
SB 1698 — Food and Hemp Products
Senate Bill 1698 aimed to make changes to the State Hemp Program.
Under this bill, high-potency hemp products — such as those with delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and other cannabinoids — would have been banned.
However, DeSantis vetoed this bill within the same day he received it.
In his veto letter, DeSantis provided the following explanation:
“Small businesses are the cornerstone of Florida’s economy. While Senate Bill 1698′s goals are commendable, the bill would, in fact, impose debilitating regulatory burdens on small businesses and almost certainly fail to achieve its purposes. Senate Bill 1698 would introduce dramatic disruption and harm to many small retail and manufacturing businesses in Florida — businesses that have emerged due to recent legislation paving the way for the commercial use of hemp.
I encourage the Florida Legislature to reconsider this topic during the next Legislative Session and engage with all relevant stakeholders to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for the manufacture and sale of hemp and hemp-derived products. Sensible, non-arbitrary regulation will provide businesses and consumers alike with much-needed stability — safeguarding public health and safety, allowing legitimate industry to flourish, and removing bad actors from the market.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
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