Why is Tallahassee overriding what local communities vote for?
Tallahassee overrides local votes through a legal tool called preemption: the state passes laws declaring that only Tallahassee, not cities or counties, may decide an issue, from local minimum wages[1] to firearm ordinances[2] to short-term rentals.[3] David Jolly's position is that government closest to the people knows best, and that Florida should respect home rule and stop preempting local communities from making their own decisions.[4]
The short version
Preemption is the mechanism
State law now bars local governments from setting their own minimum wage,[1] firearm rules,[2] or short-term rental limits[3] even when local voters want them.
Home rule was voter-created
Florida voters wrote municipal home rule into the 1968 Constitution, and the Legislature broadened it in 1973, giving cities broad power to govern local affairs.[5]
Jolly's stance
Government closest to the people knows best. Tallahassee should stop preempting local communities from making their own decisions.[4]
What preemption actually is
This isn't an accident. It's a pattern. When a Florida city or county votes for something the state disagrees with, Tallahassee passes a law declaring that only the state may decide the issue. That legal tool is called preemption. Section 218.077 of the Florida Statutes bars cities and counties from setting any local minimum wage above the state or federal rate.[1] Section 790.33 preempts the entire field of firearm regulation to the state, and lets courts fine local officials up to $5,000 personally, and even lets the Governor remove them from office, for passing a local gun ordinance.[2] Section 509.032 stops communities from prohibiting short-term vacation rentals, grandfathering only ordinances already on the books before June 1, 2011.[3]
The pattern has accelerated. In 2024, Florida enacted HB 433, which preempts local governments from setting their own minimum wages, heat protections, and other employment standards.[6] This is the same state that once championed local control. Different label now. Same result. A local vote, overturned from the capital.
Why this matters for Floridians
Home rule was not handed down from Tallahassee. Florida voters created municipal home rule in the 1968 Constitution, and the Legislature broadened it in 1973 with the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act, giving cities and charter counties broad authority to govern local affairs unless the state expressly says otherwise.[5] That was the deal. Local communities decide local matters. The recent preemption wave breaks that deal.
David Jolly names the contradiction plainly. He describes preemption as an abandonment of the local-control principle he once knew as a core Republican value. "The party I signed up for believed in less government and local control, keeping government out of your doctor's office, your bedroom, and out of your community," he says. "But that's not the Republican Party in Tallahassee I see."[7] This is bigger than party. It's a question of who gets to decide how a community lives.
David Jolly's approach
The position is direct. Government closest to the people knows best, and Tallahassee should stop preempting local communities from making their own decisions.[4] Jolly points to Key West, where voters chose to limit cruise ship sizes to protect their environment and downtown, only to see the state overturn that vote.[4] He points to communities near Sarasota County that voted for ranked choice voting or open primaries in their own municipal elections, and were told no by Tallahassee.[4]
His broader position on home rule and direct democracy is that Florida should respect home rule and support the implementation of successful voter initiatives in communities across the state.[8] Local communities can be trusted to serve their own communities. That's the whole idea. If local people want it, the state should let local people have it. See the full plan on the Home Rule and Direct Democracy hub.
Local Control: David Jolly on why Tallahassee should stop overriding local communities.
Frequently asked questions
Q. What is Jolly's position on home rule?
Jolly proposes Florida "respect home rule, and support the implementation of successful voter initiatives in communities across the state." This pushes back against the pattern of Tallahassee preempting local ordinances. Recent examples: HB 433 (2024) preempting local minimum wages and heat protections;[6] longstanding state preemption of firearm ordinances;[2] and state preemption of short-term rental limits.[3] Jolly's framing: local communities know what they need, and Tallahassee should not override local democracy on local matters.[8]
Q. What is the difference between Fair Districts and current redistricting policy?
Florida's Fair Districts Amendments 5 and 6, passed by voters in 2010 with 63% support, prohibit state and congressional redistricting plans drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent. They are the strongest state-constitutional anti-gerrymandering provisions in the country. Current policy: Governor DeSantis has pushed mid-decade re-redistricting (2025-2026) to benefit Republicans in 2026, arguing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling renders Fair Districts unenforceable. Plaintiffs dispute that legal theory. As of mid-2026, the constitutionality of Florida's anti-gerrymandering amendments is under active challenge.[9]
Q. Why does Jolly say "if an amendment gets more than 50% of the vote, the Governor should fight to enact it"?
Florida has the most restrictive ballot-initiative process in the country: a 60% supermajority is required, raised from a simple majority in 2006 with just 57.78% voter approval.[10] The result has been a string of majority-supported amendments that failed: reproductive rights (2024, 57%) and marijuana legalization (2024, 56%) both drew clear majorities but were defeated by the 60% threshold.[11] Jolly's "fight for >50%" position addresses this directly. A governor can use executive authority to advance the underlying policy goals of majority-supported amendments when direct democracy is blocked by procedure.[8]
Q. How does Jolly's position differ from current Florida policy on voting and local control?
Current Florida policy has moved toward restriction: HB 433 home-rule preemption,[6] restrictions on the ballot-initiative process,[12] and challenges to Fair Districts.[9] Jolly's position: make direct democracy easier, respect voter-passed amendments, restore home rule so local governments make local choices, and respect Fair Districts against mid-decade partisan re-redistricting.[8] The structural difference is direction of travel. Current policy makes voting and direct democracy harder. Jolly proposes making both easier.
Q. Can a Florida city set its own minimum wage?
No. Section 218.077 of the Florida Statutes preempts political subdivisions from establishing a minimum wage other than the state or federal minimum, or requiring employment benefits not required by state or federal law.[1] A 2024 amendment, HB 433, narrowed local authority further, including for local government contracts entered into after September 30, 2026.[6] This is why a city could not enforce its own higher local minimum wage even if its voters approved one.[1]
Q. Why can't Florida cities pass their own gun ordinances?
Section 790.33 of the Florida Statutes declares the Legislature is occupying the entire field of firearm and ammunition regulation, to the exclusion of all county, city, town, or municipal ordinances.[2] If a court finds a knowing and willful violation, it can assess a civil fine of up to $5,000 against the individual official responsible, public funds may not be used for their defense, and the violation is cause for removal from office by the Governor.[2] It is one of the most aggressive examples of Tallahassee overriding local decision-making.
Q. Where did Florida's home rule come from?
Florida voters created municipal home rule in the 1968 Constitution, and the Legislature broadened it in 1973 with the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act, giving cities and charter counties broad authority to govern local affairs unless the state expressly says otherwise.[5] Before the 1968 revision, local governments had only those powers expressly granted to them by the Legislature. Florida courts have generally deferred to local action unless the state clearly directs otherwise.[5]
Q. How hard is it to get a citizen amendment on the Florida ballot?
Florida's process is among the most restrictive in the country. It requires collecting signatures from 8% of votes cast in the preceding presidential election, about 891,589 signatures for the 2022 cycle, plus geographic distribution across at least 14 of 28 congressional districts. Once on the ballot, an amendment must receive 60% supermajority approval.[13] In 2025, Florida enacted HB 1205, one of the most restrictive overhauls of the initiative process in the country, adding registration, training, and citizenship rules for petition circulators along with tight new deadlines and penalties.[12]
Q. Isn't state uniformity better than a patchwork of local rules?
David Jolly's answer draws on an old-school principle: government closest to the people knows best.[4] Local communities can be trusted to serve their own communities. When Key West voted to limit cruise ship sizes to protect its environment and downtown density, that was a local community deciding a local matter for itself. Tallahassee overturning that vote was not uniformity. It was preemption of local democracy.[4]
Sources
- Florida Statutes section 218.077 (Florida Legislature), https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/0218.077 · 2024-01-01
- Florida Statutes section 790.33 (Florida Legislature), https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0790/Sections/0790.33.html · 2025-01-01
- Florida Statutes section 509.032 (Florida Legislature), https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0509/Sections/0509.032.html · 2025-01-01
- David Jolly, Local Control (video), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhyYeaVTukY · 2026-05-21
- The Florida Bar Journal (Judge James R. Wolf), https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-effectiveness-of-home-rule-a-preemption-and-conflict-analysis/ · 2009-06-01
- Florida Senate, HB 433 (2024), https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/433 · 2024-04-11
- David Jolly on local control (video), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhyYeaVTukY · 2026-05-21
- David Jolly, Home Rule and Direct Democracy, https://davidjolly.com/home-rule-and-direct-democracy · 2024-01-01
- Florida Department of State, Constitutional Amendments, https://dos.fl.gov/elections/laws-rules/constitutional-amendments/ · 2010-11-02
- Ballotpedia, Florida 2006 60% Threshold, https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Amendment_3,_Sixty_Percent_Vote_Required_to_Approve_a_Constitutional_Amendment_(2006) · 2006-11-07
- Florida Phoenix, https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/11/05/amendment-3-comes-up-short-of-the-60-required-for-passage/ · 2024-11-05
- Florida Senate Bill Summary, CS/HB 1205, https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2025/html/1205 · 2025-05-01
- Ballotpedia, Signature requirements for ballot measures in Florida, https://ballotpedia.org/Signature_requirements_for_ballot_measures_in_Florida · 2024-01-01
This isn't about party. It's about who gets to decide.
Local communities can be trusted to serve their own communities. Have a question for David? Visit the Town Hall and ask.