Jacksonville councilman introduces 'My Town Buys American’ legislation

Jacksonville, FL — It’s part of the “My Town Buys American” bill that was filed Thursday by City Councilman Rory Diamond, who represents the beaches.

The district 13 councilman made the announcement via Zoom.

Commissioners from Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties also plan to introduce similar legislation.

“Collectively, Northeast Florida will be off the sidelines and into the game to buy American and it just makes sense,” Diamond said.

The six-page proposal said the city procurement department would be required to “ … creates a domestic preference for goods and materials that are manufactured, assembled or produced in the United States.”

Even if it means paying more.

“If you have two similar products and ones made in America and ones made, for example, in China, you should buy the American and we’re even willing to pay 5% more. That’s what the legislation says,” Diamond said.

Diamond said almost no local government has such a law.

His hope is to get more county and city governments to adopt similar measures.

“We’re giving them sample legislation so we could see this happen across the 67 counties of Florida,” said Diamond.

As unemployment skyrockets, especially in areas that depend on tourism like Diamond’s district of the beaches, he believes keeping taxpayer money in the U.S. is key to bouncing back.

The proposal is being filed seven weeks before it goes to the general city council, so they’ll have plenty of time to discuss and debate it in committee.

Action News Jax will keep you posted on when or if it gets approved.