2021 Legislative Wrap-Up

2021 Legislative Wrap-Up Prepared by The Southern Group and City of Lakeland June 18, 2021 I. Coronavirus Pandemic Position: Support increased funding to State and Local Governments to help offset costs associated with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Ensure distribution of funds to cities within counties that receive direct appropriation from the Treasury. Support flexibility for the continued use of virtual meeting platforms by local governments when conditions merit such action. Support the ability of local governments to enact, and enforce, measures to reduce the spread of Coronavirus, and future epidemics, such as the wearing of masks. Support HB 7 and SB 72 relating to liability protections for businesses, local governments, schools, nonprofit organizations and religious institutions. Final Action: SB 72, by Senator Jeff Brandes, provides liability protections to all persons, businesses, governments, religious institutions, schools and health care facilities that remained open during the COVID pandemic and made good faith efforts to follow guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The bill requires that a plaintiff must show that the defendant acted with gross negligence, the plaintiff must have a signed affidavit from a doctor stating that the injury or death was a result of the defendant’s actions, and cases must be brought within one year of a COVID-19-related problem. The bill is retroactive in nature. SB 72 passed the Senate 24-15 and the House 83-31 and was signed by the Governor on March 29th. The bill went into effect immediately. SB 2006, by Senator Danny Burgess, is a comprehensive bill that amends the State Emergency Management Act to address threats from future pandemics or public health emergencies and imposes restrictions on the scope, duration and impact of emergency orders. At the local level, the bill requires that a local government imposing an ordinance that “deprives” a person of a right or liberty to prove that the measure is “narrowly tailored” to address a compelling public health or safety purpose. The bill also limits the duration of emergency orders to 7 days, with the option to renew the orders up to 5 times. The bill also prohibits requirements of vaccine documentation to access businesses, governmental entities or educational institutions. SB 2006 passed the Senate 23-15 and the House 78-36 and was signed by the Governor on May 3rd and goes into effect on July 1st. On May 10th, the U.S. Treasury released the $350 billion American Rescue Plan funds for Cities & Counties, along with all necessary spending guidelines. Florida’s cities will receive $1.5B and counties will receive $4.1B. Lakeland will receive $22.7M and Polk County will receive $141M. The ARP funds will be sent directly to the cities and counties from the Treasury. 1. II. Community Development A. Affordable Housing – SHIP & SAIL Position: Support full funding of the State’s SHIP and SAIL programs in the 2021-22 Budget, including the addition of the $225 million vetoed in 2020. Final Action: SB 2512, Budget Conforming Bill, revises the Documentary Stamp Tax distributions that are deposited into the Local Government Housing Trust Fund and the State Housing Trust Fund, which both fund affordable housing programs. The bill also directs funds to the newly created Water Protection & Sustainability Trust Fund as well as the new Resilient Florida Trust Fund. Under the new law, the two housing trust funds will receive $200 million per year, while the two new trust funds will each receive $111 million. The bill also specifies that the housing trust fund dollars may not be swept into the General Revenue fund in future years. SB 2512 passed the Senate 25-14 and the House 78-38 and was signed by Governor DeSantis on June 9th. The bill goes into effect on July 1st. B. Impact Fees Position: Oppose legislation which would place further restrictions on the implementation of impact fees by cities and counties. Final Action: HB 337 by Rep. Nick DiCeglie specifies that impact fees may be used only for fixed capital expenditures or capital outlays for major capital improvements. The bill also provides limitations on the amount by which a local government can increase impact fees; an impact fee increase may not exceed 50% of the current impact fee and may not be increased more than once every 4 years. These provisions can be overcome if a local government completes a demonstrated need study that justifies the increase, holds at least 2 public workshops and adopts the increase by a 2/3rd vote. HB 337 passed the House, 94-23 and the Senate 28-12. The bill was signed by the Governor on June 4th, and went into effect immediately. 2. C. Florida Polytechnic University Position: Support Florida Polytechnic University’s 2021-22 operational funding requests, as well as the $15 million Applied Research Center PECO project. Final Action: For the first time in its history, Florida Polytechnic University is eligible for Performance Based Funding, which should provide for an increase of approximately $4 million to its operating budget, contingent upon final calculations. Florida Poly will also receive $3.3 million in COVID Relief Funds from the Federal government. In addition, Florida Poly received $15 million in PECO funds in the 2021-22 Budget to finish construction of the new Applied Research Center. Construction is well underway, and the building should be completed in the Spring of 2022. Finally, Florida Poly also received authority to construct a new Environmental Engineering Building on campus. The Budget passed the Senate 39-0 and the House 117-1. Governor DeSantis signed the Budget on June 2nd and it goes into effect July 1st. D. Polk State College Position: Support Polk State College’s 2021-22 operational funding requests, as well as their $16 million PECO project. Final Action: The 2021-22 Budget contained an increase of $5 million in Polk State College’s operational budget. In addition, Polk State received $16 million in PECO funds to complete renovation of Building 4, as well as $2 million for campus-wide security enhancements. The Budget passed the Senate 39-0 and the House 117-1. Governor DeSantis signed the Budget on June 2nd and it goes into effect July 1st. 3. III. Municipal Finance A. Communications Services Tax Position: Oppose legislation which seek to reduce the amount that municipalities collect from the Communications Services Tax. Final Action: No legislation was filed to reduce the amount that municipalities collect from the Communications Services Tax. B. Local Business Tax Position: Oppose legislation which would place restrictions on the authority of municipalities to collect or spend Local Business Taxes. Final Action: No legislation was filed to directly restrict the collection or spending of local business taxes. C. Commercial Lease Sales Tax Position: Monitor legislation which would decrease or eliminate the sales tax on commercial leases. Final Action: SB 50, by Senator Joe Gruters, requires out of state retailers with no physical presence in Florida to collect Florida’s sales tax on sales delivered in Florida. The online sales tax is estimated to increase General Revenue by $1 billion per year and local government revenues by approximately $250 million per year. The State revenues will be used to shore up the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. Once that is complete, the revenue will be used to reduce the tax rate on rental of commercial real estate from 5.5% to 2%. SB 50 passed the Senate 27-12 and the House 93-24. The bill was signed by Governor DeSantis on April 19th and goes into effect July 1st. 4. D. Florida Sports Development Program Position: Oppose HB 6011 which would repeal Florida’s Sports Development Program. Final Action: HB 6011, by Rep. Mike Beltran, would have repealed Florida Statutes relating to professional sports franchises. The bill would have prohibited the use of state and local funding for the construction, or improvement, of facilities for sports franchises and would have required that any lease or sale of land for a sports facility must be at fair market value. The bill passed two committees, but, no Senate companion bill was filed. However, the repeal measure was included in HB 7061, this year’s Tax Package. The bill did NOT include F.S. 288.11621, relating to Spring Training Facilities. HB 7061 passed the House 117-1 and the Senate 40-0. The bill was signed by the Governor on May 21st and goes into effect on July 1st. 5. IV. Municipal Governance A. Building Inspector Certifications Position: Support legislation which increases the pool of qualified candidates for building code inspector and plans examiner certification. Final Action: No legislation filed to increase the pool of qualified candidates for building code inspectors. B. Public Broadband Access Position: Oppose legislation which would restrict the authority of municipalities to provide, or partner with internet service providers to provide, public broadband to its citizens and business community. Final Action: HB 1239, by Rep. Josie Tomkow, and SB 1592, by Senator Danny Burgess, would have negatively affected municipal electric utility pole attachments to increase rural broadband services. The bill tied rates, terms and conditions for access to Federal requirements. The bills would have set fees, undo existing contractual agreements, shift make-ready costs to the utility and increase costs for municipal customers. After amendments, the final bill created a program within the Florida Office of Broadband to award grants to expand broadband to unserved areas. The bill requires municipal utilities to offer broadband providers a discounted rate of $1 per attachment, per year, for any new attachment to provide broadband in unserved or underserved areas in their service area. Current attachment fees cannot be increased before July 1, 2022.

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