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Mystery Florida Draft Bill Calls For Abolition of Key West
An unnamed draft bill is calling for the abolition of Florida’s Key West. For some reason, an anonymous, unsigned bill wants the State of Florida to do away with its southernmost city.
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Draft Bill Calls For Abolition of Key West
The website FloridaPolitics.com received a draft bill that is currently making rounds in Tallahassee. The document has no sponsor name or an assigned bill number which makes it a draft.
Florida Keys State Representative Jim Mooney said that he is aware of the draft bill’s existence, having received a snapshot. However, he did not read the draft, calling it a “waste of time” that had no chance of passing.
The document in question resembles the type of bill drafts that end up in the Florida State Legislature. It talks about the abolition of Key West. “The City of Key West is abolished.
All assets and legitimate liabilities and revenue streams of Key West are transferred to Monroe County. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022,” the draft read.
Key West Officials Insulted, Not Alarmed
Key West Mayor Teri Johnston commented on the circulating draft. “This is ludicrous. I hope it’s just political posturing,” Johnston said.
However, she noted that local governments remain unhappy. Some state legislators are working steadily to pre-empt almost everything.
Local media asked Johnston if the state preemptions that allegedly targeted Key West were due to its proposals to reduce cruise ships in the area and placing a ban on sunscreens.
Johnston said that Key West is hardly alone in these proposals. “We’ve had some high-profile issues that have put us in the crosshairs, but we’re not alone. I just hope this is a political circus,” she added. “It’s a new low, I’ll tell you that. It’s a sad, sad day for the politics of America.”
Representative Spencer Roach Suspected Author of Draft Bill
Meanwhile, Monroe County Commissioner Holly Raschein pointed to Lee Country representative Spencer Roach as the author.
Raschien used to represent the Keys in the State House until she became term-limited in 2020. “There’s no sponsor or bill number yet, which means whoever is considering it is likely just trying to make some kind of point publicly.
That said, it’s egregious that a legislator who doesn’t even represent the Keys would attempt to abolish one of our municipalities,” Raschien said.
However, Roach denied the accusation. However, he did say that he thinks the draft bill is real. Roach said he’s not surprised that there are discussions on how to rein in rogue municipalities.
When asked who wrote the draft, Roach said that it’s not his play to share the information.
Roach helped overturn a Key West vote to restrict cruise ship traffic to the island. Eventually, Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that canceled the Key West vote.
Watch the CBS Miami video report titled: Facing South Florida: Key West Cruise Industry, Part 1:
Loading ...What do you think of the draft bill circulating in Florida that calls for the abolition of Key West?
Do you agree that this is a true draft that will eventually find its way to the Florida legislature? Or do you see this as a publicity stunt that serves notice to the city’s belligerent against the State government?
Let us know what you think. Share your comments in the comments section below.
3 Comments
The cruise ships will all go out of business pretty some,I would not worry about it.So will the air lines.We are becoming a 3rd world country.
I can’t really offer any sort of informed opinion on the question, nor even a well-thought-out guess… This report is pretty long on speculation and sadly short of any information that would help. There’s no background as to why the Keys would be the target of such a bill, or why anyone would find this a desirable situation, how it might be accomplished, etc… I felt that I was reading about a foreign country, for all of the connection I could find to my life. How about tossing a West-coaster a bit more info, some background, some reference that would make it useful or even just understandable, to those not in or from FL? Is this a political issue, and if so, which ideology is on the side of abolition and why?
By being so uninformative, you’ve not only disappointed your possibly former subscriber, but you’ve also caused me to have to take my small bit of personal time in the mornings to go research an issue I have no skin in, because a little information can be more dangerous than a complete understanding of the situation is.
A bit of advice that I learned waaaaay back in college journalism: Always assume the reader will be less informed than you expect them to be. Stating what should be already known and established facts within a report will not alienate readers; Leaving them feeling ignorant because of incomplete or missing information will.
With global warming melting the ice sheets of the world, it won’t be long until Key West becomes Kry “Wet”, another sunken community.