JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Rep. Wyman Duggan (R) says he'll vote against proposed legislation that Jacksonville City Council fears could cripple JEA.
Duggan says he's calling on the Duval delegation, which is made up of the state lawmakers representing Jacksonville, to ax HB 1331.
"That is certainly what I will do and what I encourage the rest of our delegation to do as actually, just earlier this afternoon, I sent an email to the full council copying the rest of the delegation saying basically what I just said to you," Duggan told First Coast News.
The proposed legislation would cap the amount of money that public utility companies could contribute to local governments.
Some council members feel HB 1331 (and it's companion bill SB 1380) could open the door for a future sale of JEA.
Because of this, on Tuesday, Jacksonville City Council passed a resolution opposing the legislation. Councilmembers debated asking lawmakers to specifically carve JEA out of the bill, something Duggan says he spoke to bill sponsor Demi Busatta Cabrera about.
"Some conditional willingness on her part to explore some different treatment for Jacksonville and the JEA, but I think it was pretty clear from the council debate and from JEA's chief administrative officer that they would prefer not to pursue that," Duggan said.
Duggan has past ties to the attempted sale of JEA.
His law firm was hired by NextEra Energy during its attempted purchase of JEA in 2019, however, Duggan says he was never involved.
"I took no part in any negotiations or discussions with JEA or with the council I did not want to because here we are, and you're asking me about it so for that reason I had no role," Duggan said.