Letting Businesses Sue Cities Is Florida’s New Preemption Idea

Florida’s track record of blocking local ordinances—ranging broadly from minimum wages to bans on plastic bags—makes it a preemption bellwether in the eyes of some public policy advocates.

Now, Sunshine State lawmakers are close to outsourcing the preemption job by letting businesses sue local governments seeking payment over regulations that cost them money. That sweeping measure needs only the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to become law.

Workplace law is one of a handful of wide-reaching policy areas that states frequently set as off-limits for city and county regulation. Often, it’s Republican-majority state legislatures enacting laws to preempt the ...