On Tuesday February 24th in the House Commerce Committee an amendment was quickly and unexpectedly added into HB 1451 Utility Service, that could overturn the will of voters in Gainesville over control of the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) that voters have overwhelmingly voted THREE TIMES to keep local control of.

 

The last-minute amendment broadly preempts any utility created after January 1, 2023. If passed, this would effectively overturn the will of 75% of Gainesville voters who just recently voted AGAIN to keep local control of their utilities.

 

We ask EVERYONE to reach out to the legislative delegation and bill sponsors and tell them that this amendment needs to be TAKEN OUT of the house bill and KEPT OUT of the senate bill.

 

HB 1451 and SB 1724 have until now received bi-partisian support and have not faced any serious pushback, this one amendment threatens the bi-partisian nature of these bills.

 

Tell these legislators to let the will of the voters stand and keep this amendment out of these bills.

 

Thank you for standing with us to protect Florida’s environment and future.