Week 9 of the 2024 Legislative Session 



Welcome to Week 9! The hanky has officially dropped on the 4th floor of the Capitol, wrapping up the 2024 legislative session. Check out our Final Report to see what happened to all our county priorities this year and our Budget Analysis.  

Join us next Wednesday, March 13th, to our Session Wrap-Up Webinar, hosted by your Public Policy Team! 

The bill provides that only the permitting local government may charge for transportation impacts on a development. Affected local governments are encouraged to coordinate the mitigation of transportation impacts through interlocal agreement. Those governments that are unable to reach an agreement are subject to a default statutory process.  

Under current law, a “public works project” includes construction projects funded in part or whole by state-appropriated funds. The bill revises the definition to also include projects paid for with local funding.  

Current law preempts certain “local preferences” within the procurement phase of a public works project. This includes consideration of geographic location, wage rates, benefits, staffing levels, and recruiting or hiring from preferred sources.  



The bill would expand these preempted activities to projects involving local funds—however, a local government may still practice geographic preferences if it is the sole funding source of the project. Currently, goods, services, or work that is incidental to the public works project and other incidental service items are excluded from this preemption. 

This bill prohibits regular public camping or sleeping on public property unless designated by a county or municipality for that purpose. The bill mandates counties to establish and maintain standards for safety, sanitation, and services, with DCF empowered to inspect and recommend closure for non-compliance. 

The bill clarifies that a PACE program administrator may only offer residential financing within the jurisdiction of a county or municipality that has authorized the program by ordinance or resolution. Without this clarification, rogue program administrators may be emboldened to operate statewide with little oversight. 

The bills also expand the eligible uses of the program to include advanced wastewater treatment and flood mitigation but remove solar energy as an eligible use. Lastly, the bill tightens the consumer protections surrounding the program, including additional disclosure requirements and greater financial scrutiny on a property owner’s ability to repay. 

This bill mandates specific qualifications for county emergency management directors to enhance their proficiency, including training, experience, and certifications, with existing directors given until June 30, 2026, to meet the new standards. 

The bill extends occupational licensing requirements for local governments until July 1, 2025, delays the establishment of voluntary licensure categories for certain contractors, and allows eligible applicants to receive registrations without an examination if they comply with local licensing requirements.  

The bill requires counties of 75,000 or more residents to develop a program to issue up to 50% of building permits within eligible subdivisions following approval of a preliminary plat. Applicants are required to indemnify the local government and hold a performance bond of at least 130%. The bill also ascribes vested rights to an approved preliminary plat when the applicant meets the following criteria: 1) good faith reliance on the preliminary plat and 2) the incurrence of obligations and expenses on the project. 

The bill revises the “shot clocks” for a local building department to approve or deny a building permit application. Current law prescribes a 30 day timeframe for review of a single family residential building permit, and a 120 day timeframe for review of most other building permit types. This bill dramatically lowers these timeframes for most permit types.  

The bill also codifies use of a private provider for plans review, and prescribes even more stringent timelines for approval/denial in the event a private provider is used.  

The bill precludes a government entity from restricting the construction or installation of housing for agricultural workers on land classified as agricultural. Local governments are, however, authorized to require the following of a housing site:   

• Meets all federal, state, and local building standards, including Department of Health (DOH) migrant farmworker living standards  
• Must be maintained in a neat, orderly, and safe manner;    
• May not exceed the lesser of 1.5 percent of the property’s area or 35,000 square feet  
• 50-foot setbacks on all sides   
• May not be located less than 250 feet from a property zoned for residential use;   
• Provide screening consisting of tree, wall, berm or fence coverage at least six feet in height, if the structure is within 500 feet of a residential-zoned parcel  
• Cover access drives with dust-free material such as packed shell or gravel. 

This bill raises the maximum construction cost threshold for projects under a governmental continuing contract from $4 million to $7.5 million and mandates annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. 

This bill implements regulations for vacation rentals, including registration, inspection, and operation guidelines, and mandates advertising platforms to collect and remit taxes on rentals.