State, Department of Transportation v. Edward M. Chadbourne, Inc.

I disagree with the majority’s affirmance since I am of the opinion Section 337.143 fails to state a public purpose and therefore violates Article VII, Section 10 of the Florida Constitution. The statute applied only to contracts for which bids had already been received. Prior to the passage of Ch. 74-262, the terms of the individual contracts had been already set. The statute was passed not to increase the quality of roads or the number of miles paved, but had the effect of increasing the prices fixed for existing contracts by tying the price of asphalt, containing as it does petroleum, to…