Here’s Why Everyone Is Moving to Florida
- BY FGA
There’s never been a better time to move to Florida.
The state’s freedom-loving regulatory atmosphere is one main reason. In a new paper for FGA, Senior Fellow Haley Holik highlights Florida’s success and how the state has crafted a regulatory environment that promotes business and job creation by exercising legislative and executive oversight on bureaucrats.
According to the paper, Florida has a history of cutting and controlling red tape. In 2010, the legislature overrode a veto by then-Governor Charlie Crist on a bill that required legislative approval of regulations with a price tag of $1 million or more. This gives elected representatives—and by extension, Floridians—a greater say in how tax dollars are spent in the state.
Florida also established an executive office for regulatory review that reports directly to the governor. This significantly reins in the power of unelected bureaucrats, ensuring that any rule created by an agency must have the governor’s approval before it can be implemented.
Such reforms have brought greater transparency and accountability to the regulatory process, and they’re working to remove burdensome regulations from businesses. The proof is the explosive growth in the state: In 2022, it was the fastest-growing state in the nation. And it’s home to four of the top five largest cities with the lowest levels of unemployment.
The paper explores how Governor Ron DeSantis has played an integral role in creating such a friendly environment for business and job creation. In 2019, he issued a directive to improve the rulemaking process, requiring agencies to determine whether a current rule is in its most cost-effective form.
Holik points out that this oversight has helped Florida dramatically roll back red tape. Under Gov. DeSantis, the number of proposed rules hit an all-time low in 2022. Gov. DeSantis also repealed 767 regulations.
The bottom line? Florida is a prime example of how to create a friendly regulatory environment by cutting and controlling red tape. States should follow this example and implement legislative and executive oversight on regulatory reform.
Read the paper here.
