Legislative Reporter | Nov. 17, 2023

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Nov. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter The 2024 Legislative Session convenes on Jan. 9, 2024, and is scheduled to end on March 8, 2024. There are two weeks of interim committee meetings remaining: Dec. 4-7 and Dec. 11-15.

On Nov. 9, Senate President Passidomo issued a memo that sets an upcoming goal for the legislative session focusing on the health care system. The Senate Health Policy Committee will be taking the lead in drafting a bill; the committee hosted a workshop on Nov. 14 to begin the process.

The latest Bill Tracking Report for the regular session, as of Nov. 17, can be viewed here. Please review it to see the bills filed that APA Florida is tracking. Note that if you click on the bill number, you will be linked to more information about the bill. If you would like any bills added to this report or would like more information about a specific bill, please contact Stefanie Svisco at ssvisco@floridaplanning.org.

Since the last update regarding the regular session, the following bills of interest have been filed: HB 331 (Rep. A. Garcia) is a joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 4 of Article VII and the creation of a new section in Article XII of the State Constitution to eliminate an exception for school district levies from the constitutional limitations on real property assessment increases on specified non-homestead real property, effective Jan. 1, 2025.

HB 333 (Rep. A. Garcia) requires school district levies to be assessed in the same manner as other levies and is linked to HB 331.

HB 397 (Rep. Cross) and SB 404 (Sen. Rouson) expand the term “urban agriculture” in ss.604.73(3), which deals with urban agricultural pilot projects, to include new commercial agricultural uses.

HB 413 (Rep. Altman) allows regional citizen volunteer advisory committees whose membership is composed solely of representatives from four or more counties, and whose geographic distance between the county seats of the two most distant counties is at least 100 miles, to conduct public meetings and workshops via communications Nov. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter

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media technology as defined in s.120.54(5)(b)2 and an advisory committee member who participates in a public meeting or workshop by communications media technology is deemed to be present at the meeting or workshop.

(Note this bill is similar to SB 224 previously filed by Sen. Wright. The Senate bill does not include the geographic distance clause.)

SB 438 (Sen. Ingoglia) establishes term limits of eight consecutive years for county commissioners and prohibits someone from running for a different district seat or at-large seat until two years after the end date of their initial eight-year term. (Note this bill is similar to HB 57 previously filed by Rep. Salzman. The House version does not include the clause about running for a different seat.)

HB 451 (Rep. Bell) and SB 452 (Sen. Burton) provide an annual appropriation of $20 million from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to implement the Heartland Headwaters Protection and Sustainability Act. HB 479 (Rep. W. Robinson, Jr.) revises requirements relating to agreements to pay for or construct certain transportation improvements; authorizes local governments to adopt alternative mobility planning & fee systems; prohibits alternative systems from imposing responsibility for funding existing transportation deficiency on new development; prohibits local governments that do not issue building permits from charging for transportation impacts; prohibits local governments from assessing multiple charges for same transportation impact; revises requirements for calculation of impact fees; requires local governments transitioning to alternative funding systems to provide holders of impact fee credits with full benefit of intensity & density of prepaid credit balances as of specified date. (Note that Rep. Robinson has filed a similar bill for the last two years; last year it died in its final committee of reference.)

SB 480 (Sen. DiCeglie) expands the requirements of a basin management action plan for an Outstanding Florida Spring to include the identification of water quality improvement projects that can also produce and capture renewable natural gas through the use of anaerobic digestion or other similar treatment technologies at wastewater treatment plants, livestock farms, food production facilities, and organic waste management operations.

SB 484 (Sen. Bradley) requires a seller of real property to disclose in writing certain flood information to a prospective purchaser before executing a contract for the sale of the property. (Note Sen. Bradley submitted a similar bill last year but it was never heard in committee.)

SB 498 (Sen. Stewart) removes the preemption of local laws regarding the regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings, or disposable plastic bags and removes the preemption of local laws regarding the use or sale of polystyrene products to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. (Note Sen. Stewart has filed similar bills since 2018 but none were ever heard in committee.) **Please note that not all bills are covered in all legislative reports. If a bill was covered in a previous reporter and no action has taken place since that reporter, the bill will not be discussed until further action has occurred.

The following bills of interest had action this past week: (Note these summaries are based on a review of the bill language and legislative staff analysis. You are encouraged to read the actual bill language of bills that interest you.)

SCHOOLS

Deregulation of Public Schools/School District Finance and Budgets, Facilities, and Administration and Oversight: SB 7002 (Senate Committee on Education Pre-K -12) makes a number of changes intended to remove unnecessary and burdensome regulations on school districts to advance efficient administrative Nov. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter

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processes, enhance facilities management, and simplify financial requirements. Of particular interest, the bill does the following: • removes the obligation for school boards to provide surplus property for charter schools on the same basis as other public schools; • supports flexible funding for all facets of the educational environment, from classrooms to transportation hubs by expanding the use of anticipated revenues to payments for auxiliary facilities and ancillary plants; • provides autonomy for school boards to plan for facilities in accordance with local long-term needs instead of state-specified assessments over 5-year, 10-year, and 20-year periods; • removes the requirement for each district school board to conduct an educational plant survey; • clarifies and expands construction flexibility under the state requirements for educational facilities; and • removes the cost per student station limitations on projects funded with state funds or discretionary millage.

SB 7002 was reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Education Pre-K -12 on November 15. The committee’s legislative staff review of the bill, which provides details of the entire bill, can be read here.

It now moves to the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, its final committee of reference.

SPECIAL SESSION 2023-C

Stemming from the special session held last week, four bills were passed by the legislature and sent to the governor for action: • HB 1CC (Disaster Relief) • HB 3CC (Family Empowerment Scholarship Program) • HB 5CC (Scrutinized Companies) • HB 7CC (Security Grants) All four bills were signed into law by Gov. DeSantis on Nov. 13.

Of particular interest is HB 1CC (Rep. Shoaf) that deals with disaster relief. Codified as Chapter 2023-349, the bill took effect upon becoming law.

The bill contains a provision that amends local building restrictions adopted last session. Following the 2022 hurricane season, the legislature passed a hurricane resiliency bill (SB 250) that, in part, provided that a local government, located within 100 miles of where Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole made landfall, shall not adopt more restrictive or burdensome procedures to its comprehensive plan or land development regulations concerning the review, approval or issuance of a site plan, development permit, or development order, or propose any such adoption of amendment before Oct. 1, 2024.

The bill extends the prohibition on building restrictions to Oct. 1, 2026. The 100-mile radius restriction is removed and the bill subjects the following counties and municipalities located therein to the prohibition of the adoption of more restrictive or burdensome procedures to comprehensive plan or land development regulations: Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota. Additionally, the reference to Hurricane Nichole is deleted.

The bill also would do the following: • provide that certain agricultural equipment that was unable to be used for 60 days due to Hurricane Idalia would be assessed at salvage value on the 2024 property tax roll; • grant refunds of sales tax paid on fencing materials used to repair or replace farm fences on lands classified as agriculture and were damaged due to Hurricane Idalia; Nov. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter

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grant refunds of sales tax paid on building materials used to repair or replace nonresidential farm buildings damaged as a result of Hurricane Idalia; grant refunds of motor fuel taxes used for agricultural shipments and debris removal after Hurricane Idalia; fund applications current as of Oct. 15 for the My Safe Florida Home program and direct the Department of Financial Services to stop taking applications when available funding is exhausted; authorize the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) to enter into agreements with eligible local governments impacted by Hurricane Idalia to provide funds for the non-federal share of the FEMA reimbursement program; authorize the Department of Commerce to extend loans made under the Local Government Emergency Revolving Bridge Loan program from 24 months to 5 years; direct the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to use appropriated funds for the Hurricane Housing Recovery Program within eligible counties impacted by Hurricane Idalia and provides the activities for which funds may be used; direct the DEM to provide grants and loans for hurricane repair and recovery projects within certain counties designated under the FEMA disaster declaration for Hurricane Idalia; direct the Department of Transportation to fund transportation projects under the Small County Outreach Program within counties designated for individual assistance and public assistance under the FEMA disaster declaration for Hurricane Idalia; direct the DEM to provide planning and design grants to fiscally constrained counties designated in the FEMA disaster declaration for Hurricane Idalia for new facilities for emergency operations; authorize the Department of Commerce to award grants to fiscally constrained counties impacted by Hurricane Idalia under the Rural Infrastructure Fund; create the Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) to provide low-interest or interest-free loans to agricultural producers that have experienced damage or destruction from a declared natural disaster; and authorize the DACS to award cost sharing grants to assist timber landowners with site preparation and tree replanting in specified counties impacted by Hurricane Idalia.

For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the bill appropriates: • $176,170,000 in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the DFS provide mitigation grants under the My Florida Safe Home Program for applications submitted on or before Oct. 15, 2023, and $5,280,100 in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue fund for administrative costs for implementation of the mitigation grants; • $30 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the DEM to provide the required matching funds for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance grants related to Hurricane Idalia; • $25 million in nonrecurring funds from the Local Government Housing Trust Fund to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation for hurricane recovery purposes related to Hurricane Idalia; • $50 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the DEM to provide grants or loans for hurricane repair and recovery projects related to Hurricane Idalia; • $10 million in nonrecurring funds from the State Transportation Trust Fund to the Department of Transportation for transportation projects under the Small County Outreach Program for projects related to related to Hurricane Idalia; • $3 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the DEM to provide planning and design grants for new emergency operations facilities in specified fiscally constrained counties impacted

by Hurricane Idalia; • $5 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce for the Rural Infrastructure Fund for projects in fiscally constrained counties impacted by Hurricane Idalia; Nov. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter

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$75 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Inspection Trust Fund within the DACS as fixed capital outlay for the Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program after the sum is transferred from the General Revenue Fund into the General Inspection Trust Fund; and $37.5 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the DACS as fixed capital outlay to administer a cost-sharing grant program to assist timber landowners in specified eligible counties impacted by Hurricane Idalia.

Legislative News

Florida's DeSantis signs bills from recently-concluded special session Andrew Powell | The Center Square | Nov. 16 Senate committee passes bills to support public schools and ‘cut red tape’ Amber Jo Cooper | Florida’s Voice | Nov. 16 Blaise Ingoglia, Michelle Salzman seek term limits for county commissioners Jacob Ogles | Florida Politics | Nov. 13 Darryl Rouson, Lindsay Cross file bills to add commercial uses to urban ag projects Staff Reports | Florida Politics | Nov. 13 Passidomo sets an upcoming session goal to focus on health care innovation, workforce Amber Jo Cooper | Florida’s Voice | Nov. 13 Click on image to view agenda and register.

Nov. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter

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