Feb. 17, 2023 | Legislative Reporter
The sixth week of committee meetings has ended, and bills continue to be filed. Session is scheduled to begin on March 7.
The Bill Tracking Report, as of Feb. 17, can be viewed here. Please review it to see the bills filed that APA Florida is tracking. Note that these tracking reports contain a new feature; if you click on the bill number, you are 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.
Please note: 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. Thank you.
Since the last update, the following bills of interest have been filed that would do the following:
• Amend s.163.3184, F.S., and s.163.3187, F.S., to state that the prevailing party in administrative challenges to a comprehensive plan or amendment including small –scale amendments, filed is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs in challenging or defending the order, including reasonable appellate attorney fees and costs. Amend s.163.3177, F.S., to authorize administrative approval of modifications to update the capital improvements component of a plan if all projects are adopted by the appropriate board. Amend s.163.3215, F.S., to remove the requirement that a challenge by petition of certiorari to a local government decision on a development order that materially alters the use or density or intensity of use on a piece of property must show the decision was inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. (SB 540, Sen. DiCeglie)
• Create s.83.505, F.S., requiring landlords to make specific disclosures relating to flood zones to tenants before occupancy and notifying current tenants of changes to a dwelling’s flood zone designation. (SB 716, Sen. Stewart)
• Amend s.380.093, F.S., under the Resilient Florida Grant Program, effective July 1, 2024, the Department of Environmental Protection may provide grants to coastal counties to conduct vulnerability assessments analyzing the effects of saltwater intrusion on a county’s water supply and the preparedness of the county to respond to such a threat. This includes water utility infrastructure, wellfield protection, and freshwater supply. (SB 734, Sen. Polsky)
• Amend s.553.792, F.S., to update the building permit application information posted online to include each type of building permit application, the local government’s procedure for processing and approving applications, and the local government’s schedule of reasonable fees. Reduce the period for acting on a completed application from 120 days to 90 days, and delete existing language regarding a local government requesting additional information from the applicant. (HB 765, Rep. Roth)
• Authorize rural electric cooperatives to provide communication services under certain circumstances for the purpose of expanding broadband internet services. (SB 626, Sen. DiCeglie)
• Provides that the use of property as affordable housing qualifies as use for a public purpose in the context of the authorization of the Department of Transportation to convey property without consideration to a government entity. (SB 678, Sen. Powell, and HB 763, Rep. Edmonds)
• Proposes several changes to Ch. 120, F.S. Also requires the state Department of Environmental Protection and each water management district, in order to build a streamlined permitting process that withstands disruptions caused by natural disasters, to conduct a holistic review of the current coastal permitting processes and other permit programs. Including but not limited to the coastal construction control line permits, joint coastal permits, environmental resource permits, and state-administered section 404 permits. The findings and proposed solutions must be presented in a report to the governor, Senate president, and House speaker by Dec. 31, 2023. (HB 713, Rep. McFarland, and SB 742, Sen. Grall)
• Amends s.509.032, F.S., to preempt the licensing of public lodging establishments and public food establishments to the state. Provides that a local government may adopt a vacation rental registration program and oppose a fine for failure to register. Also amends the preemption of vacation rentals to provide it (the preemption) does not apply when a local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011, is amended to be less restrictive or to comply with the creation of the local registration program. It also amends the preemption to provide that it does not apply where an ordinance that regulates vacation rentals was adopted after June 1, 2011, and that law, ordinance, or regulation is less restrictive than the law, ordinance, or regulation that was in effect on June 1, 2011. (SB 714, Sen. DiCeglie, and HB 833, Rep. Duggan)
• Amends s.171.042, F.S., to require that a feasibility study comprising an analysis of the economic, market, technical, financial, and management feasibility of a proposed annexation or contraction is completed before commencing annexation procedures. (SB 718, Sen. Yarborough, and HB 653, Rep. Canady)
• Creates the Statewide Blue Ribbon Task Force on County Realignment within the Department of Economic Opportunity to study and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and value of realigning, contracting, or expanding county boundaries, with their final report and recommendations to be completed by Oct. 1, 2024. (SB 740, Sen. Brodeur)
• Authorizes local government to enact land development regulations to permit land use for small-footprint grocery stores located in food insecure areas and include provisions in this comprehensive plan to do the same. Includes a definition of food insecure areas. (SB 778, Sen. Rouson, and HB 727, Rep. Rayner –Goolsby)
• Amends s.163.3215 (8)(c), F.S., to:
o Require a prevailing party to show that a challenge to a development order was frivolous before the prevailing party is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs;
o Provide that the prevailing party in a challenge to a comprehensive plan amendment is not entitled to an award of reasonable attorney fees and costs under this paragraph; and
o Provides that an intervenor is not entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs under this paragraph and may not recover them from an aggrieved or adversely affected party.
These amendments would not apply retroactively to any challenge brought before the enactment of Chapter 2019 –165, Laws of Florida. (SB 816, Sen. Polsky)
A similar bill (HB 843, Rep. Cross), was also filed but does not include the provisions in the second bullet above.
The following bills had action since the last Legislative Update:
Please 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.
Florida Main Street Program and Historic Preservation Tax Credit, SB 288 (Sen. DiCeglie), was reported favorably by the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Feb. 14 and is now in its second of three committees of reference, the Senate Finance and Tax Committee.
• The bill provides a tax credit against corporate income taxes and insurance premium taxes for qualified expenses incurred in rehabilitating a certified historic structure. The tax credit may not exceed 20 percent of qualified expenses incurred in the rehabilitation of a certified historic structure that has been approved by the National Park Service to receive the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit or 30 percent of the total qualified expenses incurred in the rehabilitation of a certified historic structure that has been approved by the National Park Service to receive the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit that is located within a local program area of an Accredited Main Street Program.
• The bill states that any unused amount may be carried forward for a period of up to five taxable years. Tax credits may also be sold or transferred. There is no limit on the total number of transactions for the sale or transfer of all or part of a tax credit. However, qualified expenses may only be counted once in determining the amount of an available tax credit, and no more than one taxpayer may claim a tax credit for the same qualified expenses.
A similar bill, HB 499 (Rep. Stark), is in the House Ways and Means Committee, its first of three committees of reference.
Trees and Vegetation Within the Rights-of-way of Certain Roads and Rail Corridors, CS/SB 108 (Sen. Rodriguez), was reported favorably by the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 14 and is now in its second of three committees of reference, the Senate Community Affairs Committee.
• The bill revises provisions relating to a prohibition against removal, cutting, or destruction of any trees or other vegetation within the rights-of-way of roads located on the State Highway System. The bill provides that the prohibition does not apply if the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) suspends such prohibition pursuant to a declared state of emergency or grants written permission before removing trees or vegetation.
• The bill requires FDOT to publish informational guidelines related to the removal process for debris from an emergency that is subject to an emergency declaration, including, but not limited to, a hurricane or a tropical storm.
A similar bill, HB 55 (Rep. A. Garcia), is in the House Transportation and Modals Subcommittee, its first of three committees of reference.
Requiring Broader Support for Constitutional Amendments or Revisions, HJR 129 (Rep. Roth), was reported favorably by the House Elections & Open Government Subcommittee on Feb. 14 and is now in its second of three committees of reference, the House Judiciary Committee.
• The joint resolution changes the threshold required to approve an amendment or revision from 60 percent of the electors voting on the measure to 66.67 percent of such electors. However, the joint resolution specifies that the repeal of a constitutional amendment or revision only requires the approval by vote of at least the same percent of the electors as was required at the time of the amendment or revision’s passage.
• The joint resolution, if passed by the legislature, would be considered by the electorate at the next general election on Nov. 5, 2024. If adopted at this election, the joint resolution would take effect Jan. 7, 2025.
As of Feb. 17, the following bills are scheduled to be heard in committee next week:
Tuesday, Feb. 21:
• SB 64 – Transportation
o Senate Transportation Committee, 9:30 – 11:30 am
• SB 320 – Land Acquisition Trust Fund
o Senate Environment and National Resources Committee, 9:30 – 11:30 am
• SB 202 – K-12 Education
o Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee, 9:30 – 11:30 am
Wednesday, Feb. 22:
• HB 425 – Transportation
o House Transportation & Modals Subcommittee, 11 am – 1 pm
• HB 359 – Local Government Comprehensive Plans
o House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee, 11 am – 1 pm
• HB 383 – Public Construction
o House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee, 11 am – 1 pm
• SB 102 – Housing
o Senate Appropriations Committee, 3:30 – 5 pm
• SB 106 – Florida Shared-Use Nonmotorized Trail Network
o Senate Appropriations Committee, 3:30 – 5 pm
Thursday, Feb. 23:
• HB 49 – Abandoned and Historic Cemeteries
o House Constitutional Rights, Rule of Law & Government Operations, Subcommittee, 9 – 11 am
• CS/HB 1 – School Choice
o House Pre-K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, 9 – 11 am
• HB 457 – Construction of Education Plant Space
o House Pre-K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, 9 – 11 am
• CS/SB 170 – Local Ordinances
o Senate Rules Committee, 9:30 – 11:30 am
News Clips
Resilient Florida hits $1B in spending since 2021 inception
Florida Politics | Feb. 16
VISIT FLORIDA: Record visitor arrivals in 2022
WQCS | Feb. 15
Lawmakers look at ‘Save Our Homes’ change News Service of Florida | Feb 15
Appeals court says state must do more to clean Florida’s polluted springs
10TampaBay | Feb. 15
Bills aim at local government contracts, tax referendums
Florida Politics | Feb. 14
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