Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed into law 29 local bills, which were filed by lawmakers to deal with issues in their communities, while vetoing two measures.
Examples of the signed bills include letting voters in western Martin County decide if they want to incorporate as the Village of Indiantown (HB 259); revising the five-member board of the Keys Energy Service, a public utility owned by Key West, to include two customers who live outside the city (HB 951); and moving to create the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority (HB 759).
Scott vetoed a measure (HB 1401), sponsored by House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, that dealt with the East Mulloch Drainage District in Lee County and a measure (HB 1089), sponsored by Rep. Cord Byrd, R-Neptune Beach, that involved the Ocean Highway and Port Authority in Nassau County.
In a veto letter, Scott objected to removing the cap on a maintenance tax that would have allowed the East Mulloch Drainage District to impose additional fees on district residents.
In a separate veto letter, Scott said the port-authority measure would have, in part, allowed infrastructure construction outside the scope of the Florida Department of Transportation's work program.
Scott noted the bill would also have allowed the port authority to undertake work in Georgia.