No. HB 455
Protection of Historic Monuments and Memorials ; Preempts all removal, damage to, or destruction of historic Florida monuments & memorials; provides that any existing or future ordinance, regulation, or rule to contrary, & certain actions by elected or appointed local government officials, are void; prohibits local governments from enacting or enforcing specified ordinances, regulations, or rules; provides penalties; requires DOS to withhold certain funding from local government; authorizes local government to temporarily remove & relocate monument or memorial in certain instances; authorizes Division of Historical Resources of DOS to request certain recommendations from Florida Historical Commission & Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDThe state takes over every decision about removing, damaging, or destroying a historic Florida monument or memorial on public property. Existing and future local ordinances that touch these decisions are void, and local governments may not enact new ones.
An elected or appointed official who knowingly and willfully violates the preemption faces a court-ordered fine of up to $1,000, and public money cannot be used to defend or reimburse that official.
A group connected to a monument, or people who use it for remembrance, may sue for up to $100,000 in damages plus attorney fees. The bill does not let a government that wins the suit recover its own costs.
If a monument is wrongly removed, the state restores or relocates it and then withholds all of that local government's arts, culture, and historic-preservation funding until it repays the cost, and funding withheld during that freeze is gone for good.
AIAny removal, damage, or destruction of a historic Florida monument or memorial is now a state matter. Existing and future local ordinances, regulations, or official actions to the contrary are void, and a local government may not enact or enforce one.
AIA court must fine an elected or appointed local official up to $1,000 for knowingly and willfully violating the preemption, and except as otherwise required by law, public funds may not be used to defend or reimburse that official's unlawful conduct.
AIA group involved in a monument's design, erection, or maintenance, or a person or group that regularly uses it for remembrance, may sue a violating local government or official for declaratory or injunctive relief and up to $100,000 in actual damages. The court must award a prevailing plaintiff attorney fees and costs.
AIIf a local government removes, damages, or destroys a monument unlawfully and cannot afford to restore or relocate it within three years, the state does the work instead, and the Department of State must withhold all of that local government's arts, cultural, and historic-preservation funding until it reimburses the state.
AIA local government may temporarily remove and relocate a monument only for military necessity or a construction or infrastructure project. It must escrow relocation funds, notify the state within set deadlines, and return the monument to a site of similar prominence once the reason for moving it ends.
AIOutside of restoring a wrongly removed monument or handling an authorized temporary relocation, the division may not require a local government to spend money on a historic Florida monument or memorial.