Week Eight
April 28, 2023
Join us on May 18 at 2:00 p.m. ET for our annual Post-Legislative Session webinar to learn what major legislation with municipal impact passed and failed during the 2023 Legislative Session. Register Now
 
We are hosting the final weekly Monday morning conference call for the 2023 Legislative Session on May 1 to share the latest information on priority issues and all things advocacy-related. We hope you will join us! Learn More
 
The following is a brief synopsis of the key legislative actions and bill summaries for this week.
 
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Legislative Update: Keeping You in the Know
Short-Term Rental Bill Amended and Passes the Senate
CS/CS/CS/SB 714 (DiCeglie) and CS/CS/HB 833 (Duggan) are comprehensive bills relating to short-term rentals (STRs).
 
On Thursday, CS/CS/CS/SB 714 (DiCeglie) passed the full Senate by a vote of 28-10. A few late changes were made to the bill minutes before it was passed by the full chamber. The changes:
  • Now require local governments to implement a “3 strike” process for short-term rentals that violate a condition of local registration or another local ordinance before they can take enforcement action. If 3 violations occur in a 90-day period, a city may suspend the local registration for up to 30 days. If a fourth violation occurs within the next consecutive 6 months, the city may suspend the registration for up to 6 months.
  • Before the bill was amended, a municipality would have had the discretion to determine if a short-term rental registration should be suspended or terminated with no set number of violations having to occur.
  • The amendment also made one small positive change, allowing local governments to require STR owners to provide guests information related to health and safety concerns and applicable local regulations.

The House companion, CS/CS/HB 833 (Duggan), is in a much different posture than the Senate Bill. It removes the ability for cities to impose a fine for failure to register STRs, removes the ability for cities to terminate an STR registration for noncompliance with local ordinances and also removes the requirement for payment of all outstanding code liens as a condition of registration. The amendment also removed the requirement for DBPR to terminate a state license if an STR has its local registration terminated. The bills will be heard by the full House next week, and we anticipate the House will accept the Senate version. (Taggart)
Land Use Bill Passes the Senate
CS/CS/SB 1604 (Ingoglia) and CS/CS/CS/HB 439 (McClain) are bills relating to Land Use Development Regulations.

On Wednesday, CS/CS/SB 1604 (Ingoglia) was amended and passed the full Senate by a vote of 27-13. The bill revises local comprehensive planning requirements by increasing the two required planning periods to a 10-year and 20-year period, from 5 and 10, and prohibiting local governments that fail to update their comprehensive plans in accordance with the seven-year evaluation and appraisal process from initiating or adopting any publicly-initiated plan amendments. The bill also prohibits local governments from requiring specified building design elements for residential dwellings in planned unit developments, master planned communities, unless the local government has a design review board or architectural review board created before January 1, 2020, or the dwelling is approved by the local governing body by July 1, 2023. Lastly, the bill contains language to cancel an agreement Reedy Creek Improvement District reached with Walt Disney Company to circumvent state oversight of the district. The Senate Bill is now awaiting action by the House.

The House Companion, CS/CS/CS/HB 439, contains additional preemptions that would allow a developer to expand a project to an adjacent parcel despite local land use restrictions if 25% of dwelling units are reserved for affordable housing at the time of the initial sale or lease. The House bill will also further preempt local government oversight over the expansion of electric utility substations. (Chapman)
Financial Disclosures for Local Officials Headed to the Governor’s Office
CS/CS/SB 774 (Brodeur), relating to Financial Disclosures, has passed both the House (113-2) and Senate (35-5) and will now be headed to the Governor’s office. The bill requires all municipal mayors, city commissioners, elected members of a municipal governing body and members of the state Commission on Ethics to file an annual Full Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 6) with the Florida Commission on Ethics. If this bill becomes law, the Form 6 requirement will go into effect for elected municipal officials on January 1, 2024. (Taggart)
Tax Package Passes the House
This week, HB 7063 (Ways & Means Committee), the tax package for the 2023 Legislative Session, passed unanimously on the House floor. The bill provides several tax reductions and other tax-related modifications. Provisions include additional property taxes breaks for permanently and totally disabled veterans, first responders, and their surviving spouses. The bills also include a provision to freeze local communications services tax rates at their current levels for three years. The bill also includes numerous sales tax holidays like the back-to-school tax holiday and new sales tax exemptions. HB 7063 is now awaiting action by the Senate. (Chapman)
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