ORLANDO, Fla. — Could Florida’s capital move to Central Florida or another part of the state? A state senator wants to know how much it would cost to make the change.
State Sen. Kevin Rader, D-Palm Beach County, filed SB-112 for the 2020 session. The bill calls on the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to "conduct a study regarding the relocation of the state capital, prescribing requirements for the study, requiring OPPAGA to submit a report to the legislature by a specified date."
Tallahassee has been the capital since 1824, 21 years before Florida became a state. The area was chosen mainly because it was midway between St. Augustine and Pensacola, two of Florida’s largest cities at the time.
But Tallahassee sits more than 250 miles from five of the six largest cities in the state.
Rader's bill doesn’t suggest a new city for the capital, but it does call on OPPAGA to "conduct a study that identifies and makes findings regarding the relocation of the state capital to a location in Central Florida."
This isn’t the first time lawmakers have suggested moving the capital to better reflect the population growth of the state.
A similar attempt in the late '60s ended with the construction of a new Capitol building.
Click here to read Rader's bill.
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Cox Media Group
