|
Thank you to our members who advocated on behalf of Florida’s cities, towns and villages this week at Legislative Action Days! Click here to view the recap video.
Be sure to send a thank you note to the legislators that you met with on Legislative Action Days.
If you have any helpful information from your meetings with legislators that should be shared with the FLC lobbying team, please call or email Allison Payne.
| Stay Informed: A Recap of This Week's Top Stories: | |
Bill Increasing Homestead Tax Exemption Passes on the House Floor
On Thursday, CS/HJR 7017 (Buchanan) passed off the House floor on a vote of 86-29. The bill would apply an annual increase in exemption values by the Consumer Price Index percentages. CS/HJR 7017 is a constitutional amendment and would require the approval of the Florida Legislature and the voters of Florida. It is important to note that at this time, there is no Senate companion bill.
The League is opposed. CS/HJR 7017 will have a recurring and increasingly detrimental impact on local governments, year over year, putting essential services at risk. (Chapman)
| |
FLC Priority: Bills Relating to Alternative Mobility Funding Systems
This week, CS/HB 479 (Robinson, W.) and SB 688 (Martin) successfully cleared their respective committees. The bills aim to streamline current mobility plans and fees laws, specifying that only the local government issuing the building permit may charge for transportation impacts. CS/HB 479 is now awaiting a final House floor vote after passing all committees, while SB 688 has one more committee stop before advancing to the Senate floor. The League supports these bills. (Cruz)
| |
|
Bill Restricting Enterprise Fund Transfers Passes Second Committee
SB 1510 (Brodeur) and CS/CS/HB 1277 (Busatta Cabrera) would restrict a municipality from transferring utility revenues generated from serving extraterritorial customers to the municipality’s general fund. The bills would also eliminate statutorily authorized surcharges on extraterritorial water and sewer customers starting in July 2025. On Thursday, CS/CS/HB 1277 was amended in its second committee of reference and passed on a vote of 11-4. To see more details on the amendment, click here to view the bill summary. (O’Hara)
| |
|
Bill Dealing with Municipal Water and Sewer Rates Temporarily Postponed
CS/HB 777 (Brackett) and SB 1088 (Martin) would prohibit local governments from charging extraterritorial surcharges for water and sewer services outside of their municipal boundaries. The bills would require rates, fees and charges for extraterritorial customers to be the same as those for customers inside the municipality. On Thursday, CS/HB 777 was temporarily postponed in the Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee. (O’Hara)
| |
|
Sovereign Immunity Bills Move Forward
CS/SB 472 (Brodeur) and CS/CS/HB 569 (McFarland) aim to revise liability limits for tort claims against the state and its entities. The proposed changes include increasing limits to $400,000 per person and a $600,000 per-incident cap. Both bills have recently advanced through their respective committees. Notably, CS/CS/HB 569 underwent amendments in the House Appropriations Committee, removing provisions tying limits to the consumer price index for annual adjustments and specifying that new limits apply to the date of the accident rather than the date of the final judgment. (Cruz)
| |
|
Bill Relating to Local Government Actions Temporarily Postponed
SB 1628 (Collins) and HB 1547 (McClure) remove exemptions from the application of SB 170, relating to local ordinances and business impact estimates, passed in the 2023 Legislative Session. Ordinances adopting land development regulations, comprehensive plan amendments and zoning changes are no longer exempt from the ordinance suspension and business impact requirements in current law. On Monday, SB 1628 was temporarily postponed, but will be back up for consideration on Tuesday, February 6. (O’Hara)
| |
|
Bill Dealing with Local Business Tax Amended in Committee
On Thursday, CS/HB 609 (Botana) was amended and passed its first committee of reference on a vote of 16-7. The bill would freeze the revenue and rates for Local Business Taxes (LBT) at the FY23-24 level if you have an ordinance adopted to levy LBT before October 1, 2024. Moving forward, if revenues exceed the FY23-24 level, cities will have to issue a refund to the local business paying the tax. If rates are to be adjusted, the total revenue generated cannot exceed the amount in the FY23-24 year. The Senate companion, SB 1144 (DiCeglie), would fully repeal local governments' ability to levy a local business tax. (Chapman)
| |
|
Short-Term Rental Bill Passes on the Senate Floor
On Thursday, CS/SB 280 (DiCeglie), relating to short-term rentals, was heard on the Senate floor and passed on a vote of 27-13. The bill would limit what local governments can require as part of a local registration program and attempts to provide new enforcement measures to suspend or revoke licenses for noncompliance. The bill also contains additional accountability measures for advertising platforms and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The bill maintains the grandfather for ordinances adopted prior to June 1, 2011. Also on Thursday, CS/HB 1537 (Griffitts) passed through its first committee of reference on a vote of 10-4. (Wagoner)
| |
|
Bill Relating to Millage Rates Passes Through Second Committee
On Thursday, CS/HB 1195 (Garrison) passed in its second committee of reference on a vote of 10-4. The bill would require cities to have super-majority approval of the governing body to increase the millage rate. The Senate version, SB 1322 (Ingoglia), is still waiting to be heard in Senate Finance and Tax. (Chapman)
| |
|
Changes to the Live Local Act Up Headed to the Senate Floor
On Wednesday, CS/CS/SB 328 (Calatayud) was heard in its second and final committee of reference and passed unanimously. CS/CS/SB 328 is a comprehensive bill that makes several revisions to the Live Local Act from the 2023 Session. The bill amends sections of the Live Local Act that deal with zoning, height and density. The bill also appropriates $100 million to the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program. CS/CS/SB 328 is scheduled to be heard on the Senate floor on Wednesday, February 7. The House companion, HB 1239 (Lopez, V.), is still waiting to be heard in its first committee of reference. (Branch)
| |
|
Bill Dealing with Residential Building Permits Passes Second Committee
On Thursday, CS/CS/HB 267 (Esposito) was amended and passed its second committee of reference on a vote of 10-4. The bill is a comprehensive building permit bill. The bill drastically changes the process that local governments have to go through before a building permit is approved, including significantly reducing the timeframes for approval of permits. For more information on the bill as amended, click here to view the bill summary. The Senate companion, SB 684 (DiCeglie), will be heard in the Senate Community Affairs Committee on Tuesday, February 6. (Branch)
| |
|
Senate Cybersecurity Liability Bill Passes First Committee
On Monday, SB 658 (DiCeglie) was heard in its first committee of reference and passed on a vote of 7-2. The bill would exempt local governments from liability in connection with a cybersecurity event if the local entity is in compliance with the currently required training and standards. CS/HB 473 (Giallombardo) and SB 658 will be heard in their second committees of reference on Tuesday, February 6. (Wagoner)
| |
Several Bills to Take Center Stage Next Week: | |
|
Government Accountability Bills Gain Momentum
On Monday, CS/SB 734 (Ingoglia) passed its first committee of reference unanimously. The bill requires all cities to have lobbyist registration requirements and limits the registration fee to $40. It also prohibits a city manager or city attorney contract from being executed or renewed in the 8 months preceding the election of any member of the governing body. CS/SB 734 will be heard on Monday, February 5, in the Senate Ethics & Elections Committee. The House companion, CS/HB 735 (Andrade), is waiting to be heard in its final committee of reference, the House State Affairs Committee. (O’Hara)
| |
|
Bill Dealing with Advanced Community Permitting Moves Forward
On Wednesday, CS/HB 665 (McClain) was heard in its second committee of reference and passed 10-5. The bill is a comprehensive bill dealing with the expedited approval of residential building permits. The bill would require counties with a population of 75,000 or more and municipalities with a population of 30,000 or more to create a program to expedite the process of issuing building permits for residential subdivisions. The bill was amended in committee to change the date of compliance from August 15, 2024, to October 1, 2024. The bill does include a few protections for cities, including an indemnification clause and a requirement for applicants to have a performance bond of up to 130%. CS/SB 812 (Ingoglia) will be heard in its second committee of reference on Monday, February 5. (Chapman)
| |
|
Public Records Exemption for City and County Managers Up Next Week
SB 862 (Jones) and HB 811 (Gottlieb) create a public records exemption for the personal identifying and location information of current county administrators and assistant/deputy county and city managers. SB 862 will be heard in its first committee of reference on Tuesday, February 6. (Wagoner)
| | | | |
