Opinion ID: 1891743
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Law of Preemption

Text: In Florida, a municipality is given broad authority to enact ordinances under its municipal home rule powers. Art. VIII, § 2(b), Fla. Const.; § 166.021(1), (3)(c), (4), Fla. Stat. (1999). [3] Under its broad home rule powers, a municipality may legislate concurrently with the Legislature on any subject which has not been expressly preempted to the State. Wyche v. State, 619 So.2d 231, 237-38 (Fla. 1993) (citing City of Miami Beach v. Rocio Corp., 404 So.2d 1066, 1069 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)); see also Barragan v. City of Miami, 545 So.2d 252, 254 (Fla.1989) (stating that the municipal home rule powers act limits cities from legislating on any subject expressly preempted to state government by general law). Preemption essentially takes a topic or a field in which local government might otherwise establish appropriate local laws and reserves that topic for regulation exclusively by the legislature. Phantom of Clearwater, Inc. v. Pinellas County, 894 So.2d 1011, 1018 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Express pre-emption requires a specific statement; the pre-emption cannot be made by implication nor by inference. Fla. League of Cities, Inc. v. Dep't of Ins. & Treasurer, 540 So.2d 850, 856 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (quoting Bd. of Trs. v. Dulje, 453 So.2d 177, 178 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)); see also Phantom of Clearwater, Inc., 894 So.2d at 1018 (Express preemption ... must be accomplished by clear language stating that intent.); Edwards v. State, 422 So.2d 84, 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (An `express' reference is one which is distinctly stated and not left to inference.). However, [t]he preemption need not be explicit so long as it is clear that the legislature has clearly preempted local regulation of the subject. Barragan, 545 So.2d at 254 (citing Tribune Co. v. Cannella, 458 So.2d 1075 (Fla.1984)). The Fourth District held that the City's ordinance is preempted by the FCFA. It based this holding upon the language of the FCFA's policy statement as found in section 932.704, Florida Statutes (1995). We examine this holding by looking at the history and language of the FCFA, in particular section 932.704.