TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – President Donald Trump, also known as Douge, has sparked controversy when searching for wasted federal spending. Currently, FL GOP lawmakers are planning a similar initiative.
Republicans at the State Capitol are pulling pages from Doge’s book, aiming to cut regulations on state agencies and enhance Florida’s business environment. But Democrats remain cautious in the face of these efforts to streamline the government.
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“I took office to work on policies for less government, less regulations and free enterprise. Reducing regulations and reducing bureaucracy is one of the reasons I came to Tallahassee.”
Representative Esposito and Sen. Danny Burgess (R-Zephyrhills) have introduced legislation that grants Congress more power in rulemaking, reducing unconfirmed government overreach.
In an interview with eight people on your side, Esposito shared her perspective from her everyday work as president and CEO of Southwest Florida Incorporated. She highlighted the importance of listening to the needs of Florida business.
“Through conversations with small businesses and working within the community, I have consistently heard that businesses need predictability. Companies need to understand what regulations are. Time is money. We’re going to have more regulations on businesses and Floridians, but the more expensive it becomes,” Esposito said.
House Bill 305 is divided into three main components: It expanded the cost-benefit analysis of the new regulations, the mandatory eight-year expiration date for outdated rules, and legislative oversight of agency regulations.
Throughout the aisle, Democrats say they are taking part in providing more transparency and accountability, but they argue that the bill doesn’t solve the issue.
“We don’t need a bill, we need action,” state legislator Anna V. Escamani (D-Orlando). “One of the factors that constantly annoy me is the many discussions about accountability, but there are clear examples and systems broken before us, and we’re not doing anything.”
Eskamani added that he is concerned about the inspiration behind the bill as the nation continues to reflect the work being carried out at the national level.
“It’s not from Elon Musk, it’s from a right-wing think tank funded by billionaires, and the intent is that, as we saw in Doge, it could bring about real harm. There is,” Eskamani said.
“The American people are speaking and we’ve seen from a national level that there are fewer bureaucracies, fewer deficits and more opportunities for Americans to thrive. This bill allows that.”
The bill will be heard by the Administrative Procedures Committee on Monday and if passed, it will come into effect on July 1, 2025.
