Excess DOGE? Or informing the public? House panel debates local government budget bill

A third and final House Committee advanced a bill that Republicans believe will make local governments more transparent, while Democrats say the measure will add new levels of bureaucracy.

The House State Affairs Committee advanced HB 1329 with a 17-6 vote Thursday in the bill’s last Committee stop before going to the full House floor.

“Every citizen should be able to find whatever they’re looking for regarding budgets in their cities and counties,” said Rep. Yvette Benarroch, a Marco Island Republican sponsoring the bill.

Benarroch framed her bill as important in the ongoing debate over whether Florida should abolish property taxes.

“This is a good way to start educating the citizens on how we’re spending their money. So when they go out to the polls to vote, they are educated and informed,” she said.

Democrats accused her bill of being DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) out of control.

The bill would create new budget reporting requirements for cities and counties to post information such as all employees’ salaries and all employees’ travel expenses on their websites. 

“We’re just becoming so obsessed and we’re creating enemies where we don’t need to,” said Rep. Lindsay Cross, a St. Petersburg Democrat. “Our local governments are already providing information about budgets, but the idea that we have to post and make it searchable the salary for every single person, our sanitation workers, maybe someone who cleans the municipal building, the travel expenses for every single mile traveled — I think it’s ridiculous.”

“I feel like this is just an unfunded mandate that’s going to take more time and money away from local governments who are just trying to serve their residents,” she added.

Democrats took issue with the bill targeting local governments and not state government officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and any of his Cabinet.

“We don’t hold ourselves to that same standard,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat.

Benarroch became defiant during the panel as she defended her bill.

“Last time I checked, this was the people’s House. And with some of the comments here, it seems like we have forgotten that,” she told critical Democrats. “We’re supposed to be standing for the people. They’re the people that pay taxes. And they have the right to be able to access and understand the information.”

Under her bill, the state would require local governments to make their budgets viewable online but also provide charts and graphs so the public can analyze the figures. Some cities currently post their budgets in PDFs, Benarroch said.

Local governments would be required to post their budget hearings 14 days out instead of just two to give the public more time to view.

In addition, local governments would be required to do a “budget-cutting exercise” at least two weeks before the final budget adoption vote. The purpose of exercise would be shrinking their proposed budget by 10% without eliminating essential services.

The bill includes exemptions for small local governments since local officials warned the strong transparency requirements would be a major financial hit. 

Rep. Linda Chaney, a St. Pete Beach Republican who supported the bill, said she hopes it gets the public more interested in local government.

“As a former City Commissioner, I can tell you the budget workshop meetings are the least attended meetings,” Chaney said. “And so my hope is that this exercise does engage our residents more.”

A similar Senate bill (SB 1566) that carries less strict budgeting reporting requirements is also advancing through the committee and was filed by Sen. Nick DiCeglie.