Acknowledging it is a “crappy” issue that polite society doesn’t like to talk about, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds[1] warned that the state must improve its wastewater infrastructure amid Florida’s massive growth.
“This is a tough subject. Nobody wants to be engaged in it except, frankly, people who sit on City Councils and County Commissions,” Donalds said at the Future of Florida Forum[2] in Orlando. “I believe that you have to have a sound plan, a strategy, of how you address these things going into the future. We cannot put our heads in the sand and ignore it because that crappy issue will back up, and I’m not joking.”
Donalds, who many peg as the leading candidate for Governor in 2026, talked for about 20 minutes at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Report and Spa[3] in Orlando. The Florida Chamber of Commerce’s[4] annual meeting runs Monday and Tuesday.
At the Future of Florida Forum, Donalds spoke about a variety of topics from improving the state’s infrastructure, getting young people ready for the workforce, property taxes, and a prediction[5] for how long the federal government shutdown will last.
Donalds said he supports repealing homestead property taxes, but he also wants to ensure “key services” of road work and police and fire services are still funded amid the reform.
“Local governments, state government, we have a responsibility to be ruthlessly efficient with the people’s money,” he said, warning “everybody needs to tighten their belts.”
Donalds said he expects Gov. Ron DeSantis to put forth a plan soon.
“I look forward to seeing it and supporting it,” Donalds said.
Several House Republicans[6] and a Democratic Senator[7] have recently filed a variety of proposals to put on the ballot next year to make changes to property tax levels.
Speaking to a friendly crowd of business leaders in Orlando, Donalds also argued governments must speed up the permitting and planning process to help developers.
“It cannot take us, going forward, two years to put a shovel in the ground,” Donalds said. “Government has to stop operating at the speed of government. Government has to operate at the speed of business.”
References
- ^ Byron Donalds (donalds.house.gov)
- ^ Future of Florida Forum (www.flchamber.com)
- ^ Report and Spa (www.marriott.com)
- ^ Florida Chamber of Commerce’s (www.flchamber.com)
- ^ a prediction (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Several House Republicans (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ a Democratic Senator (floridapolitics.com)