Governor Scott Shot Down By The Florida Supreme Court. By Geniusofdespair

In a nutshell, the Supreme Court decided the Governor could not suspend rulemaking by Executive Order, unconstitutional. Court said in part:

II. DISCUSSION
Our precise task in this case is to decide whether the Governor has overstepped his constitutional authority by issuing executive orders which contain certain limitations and suspensions upon agencies relating to their delegated legislative rulemaking authority and the requirements related thereto.

(I Left out a lot, there were 19 pages between II and III.)

III. CONCLUSION
We distinguish between the Governor‘s constitutional authority with respect to the provisions of the executive orders pertaining to review and oversight of rulemaking within the executive agencies under his control, and the Legislature‘s lawmaking authority under article III, section 1 of the Florida Constitution. The Legislature retains the sole right to delegate rulemaking authority to agencies, and all provisions in both Executive Order 11-01 or 11-72 that operate to suspend rulemaking contrary to the APA constitute an encroachment upon a legislative function. We grant Whiley‘s petition but withhold issuance of the writ of quo warranto. We trust that any provision in Executive Order 11-72 suspending agency compliance with the APA, i.e., rulemaking, will not be enforced against an agency at this time, and until such time as the Florida Legislature may amend the APA or otherwise delegate such rulemaking authority to the Executive Office of the Governor.

It is so ordered.

Read the entire opinion.