At the halfway point of the 2010 Legislative Session, it is clear that this year is again dominated by budget discussions.  The impact of the current economic climate is evident as many proposed bills are couched as "jobs" or "economic stimulus" packages.  At this point the House has shut down most of its committees for the session, although councils are continuing to meet.  Bills that have not been heard by at least one committee are likely to go nowhere this year.  This equates to over 400 of the 978 bills filed in the House, according to a bill analysis done by LobbyTools.  Senate committees are still scheduled to meet over the upcoming two weeks.

There are a number of bills with growth management implications that continue to progress.  The following report summarizes those bills that have had some movement over the past two weeks. Please refer back to the Bill Tracking reports, as well as the March 5, 2010 and March 19, 2010 Legislative Reporters posted on the website, for more information about bills of interest not covered herein.

Budget:  As stated above, budget discussions in both the Senate and the House have been the focus of attention over the last two weeks.  On March 31st, the Senate unanimously passed a budget of nearly $70 billion (SB 2700E1), nearly $2 billion more than the House budget of $67.2 billion (HB 5001E1) passed on April 1st.  (The Senate budget relies on the successful completion of a gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, as well as the federal approval of changes to the Medicaid matching rate.)  This divergence between the two budgets sets the stage for intense budget negotiations over the upcoming weeks.


DCA Sunset:  DCA's sunset review, a normal review done on each agency every ten years, is still underway.  CS/SB 282 (Bennett) simply reenacts Section 20.18, FS (DCA) and Section 420.504, FS (Florida Housing Finance Corporation).  Approved on March 17th with two more committees of reference, the bill is now in the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee. 

On the House side, HB 7107 was filed by the Government Accountability Act Council and has been referred to the House Economic Development and Community Affairs Council. This bill would re-enact DCA, and also makes some changes to programs.  The main programs of DCA would remain the same. Under this bill, the Small County Technical Assistance Program would be transferred to DCA from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.   There are also some amendments related to the Florida Communities Trust program and the listing of special districts. The bill would also repeal the Community-Based Development Organization Assistance Act found in 163.455 through 163.462.  This bill was referred to the House Economic Development & Community Affairs Council, its only committee of reference, on March 12th with no action to date.

Florida Forever:  With respect to budgetary considerations, the Senate budget includes $15 million for the Florida Forever program but the House budget does not provide any money for the program.  Advocates of Florida Forever, including APA Florida, will continue to push for additional funds as budget negotiations move forward.  The Florida Forever Coalition is seeking support for $50 million in bonding authority at a cost of $4.8 million in the 2010-2011 budget.

On the programmatic side, CS/SB1640 (Fasano) and HB 7145 (Glorioso) would reenact the Florida Forever Program Trust Fund within the Department of Community Affairs.  Both bills reenact provisions related to the program, allowing it to receive funds and carryover unspent funds to the next fiscal year.  The fund would be required to be reviewed prior to its scheduled termination on July 1, 2014.    Both bills would become effective on July 1, 2010 but not take effect unless enacted by a three-fifths vote of each house.

CS/SB 1640 moved quickly through the Senate and was passed unanimously on February 18th and immediately certified.  On March 24, the House substituted CS/SB 1640 for HB 7145 and passed it.  The bill was ordered to be enrolled on March 31st.

Growth Management: There are several bills that appear to be a response to the ongoing litigation regarding the constitutionality of SB 360.  CS/SB 2452, approved by the Senate Committee on Community Affairs on March 18th  and now in its last committee of reference (Judiciary), would provide that any exemption or permit extension that is given in accordance with Chapter 2009-96 (SB 360) will remain in effect if any portion of that law is subsequently found by the courts to be invalid.  This would apply to approved or pending DRI exemptions, 2-year extensions, and any adopted comprehensive plan amendment to authorize a transportation concurrency exception area. 

CS/HB 7099 (Military & Local Affairs Committee) addresses this issue but amends the bill language to be consistent with the provisions in CS/SB 1752 (discussed below) by deleting reference to the litigation and simply reauthorizing the exemption/extension provisions.  CS/HB 7009 was approved by the Economic Development & Community Affairs Policy Council on April 1st and is now headed to the House Floor.

CS/SB 1752E1 (Gaetz), an economic development bill, was the source of much discussion and consternation over the last two weeks.  SB 1752, proposed as a "jobs bill", has moved quickly through the Senate.  It was a simple bill when originally filed in February was totally revised in mid-March. It is a very large bill and it did contain a number of provisions that have generated concerns from a number of groups.  These provisions dealt with the reduction of review time for environmental permits, self-certification for certain developments so that state permits are not required, as well as the language dealing with extensions to local permits, development orders etc.

On March 25th the Senate heard CS/SB 1752 on the Special Order Calendar for its second and third reading.  It was passed with a number of amendments that took out some of the previous bill language and the engrossed bill was filed on the same day.   Of interest are amendments which appear to make the following changes to the bill:
1) deletion of the language that changed permit review from 90 days to 30 days
2) deletion of language requiring certain local governments to apply for permit delegation by a date certain and replacing with language which clarifies local governments not required to seek delegation.
3) amendment of Section 32 slightly to delete the reference to the pending lawsuit but the substance of that paragraph remains the same.
4) deletion of the self-certification provisions in Section 26 of the bill

CS/SB 1752 was sent to the House in Messages on March 31st.

CS/HB 7129 (Military & Local Affairs Policy Committee) would amend section 163 .3175 dealing with compatibility with military installations.  The bill would specifically identify the military bases and local governments to which the section's requirements apply.  It would allow a base commander to request copies of variances to height, lighting or noise attenuation requirements.  If a local government does not adopt address military base compatibility in its future land use plan element by June 30, 2012, mandatory mediation is required.  If the plan does not include compatibility criteria by December 31, 2013, the Administration can impose sanctions if notified by DCA.  On March 30th, this bill was passed by the Economic Development & Community Affairs Policy Council, its only committee of reference, and is now on the House Calendar for Second Reading.

Transportation Concurrency Exemptions: Several bills include transportation concurrency exemptions language but only one has moved over the past two weeks. CS/ HB 143 (Ray), which expands the exemption to include hangers for the assembly and manufacture of aircraft, was passed favorably by the Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee  on March 25th and is now in the Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy Council, the last committee of reference.  Its Senate companion bill, SB 1518 (Altman) will be heard by the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, also the last committee of reference, on April 6th.

Energy/Climate Change:  CS/SB 2322 (Bennett) provides that a local government can assess a non-ad valorum assessment to fund qualifying improvements related to energy conservation and efficiency.  The bill sets out requirements for the types of improvements that can be funded and has provisions for how the assessments can be collected and utilized.  This bill was passed favorably by the Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee on March 23rd.  It will be before the Senate Finance and Tax Committee on April 6th.  A similar bill in the House, HB 7179 (Energy & Utilities Policy Committee) was filed on March 23rd and will be before its first committee of reference (House Finance and Tax Council) on April 6th.

Community Redevelopment:  SB 126 (Bullard (L)) and HB 381 (Bullard (D) would expand the definition of "blighted land" to include land previously used as a military facility.  SB 126 was moved favorably by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee on March 16th and will be heard by its last committee of reference, the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, on April 6th.  HB 381 was referred to the Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee in December and has yet to be heard.

Expedited Permitting:  CS/HB 773(Kreegel) clarifies the duties of OTTED to approve expedited permitting and comprehensive plan amendments. The bill reduces the number of jobs that have to be produced by a business to be eligible for the expedited process, and states that projects resulting in the production of biofuels cultivated on lands that are 1000 acres or more, construction of a biofuel or biodiesel processing facility, or a facility generating renewable energy, are eligible for the expedited permitting process.   This bill has been moved favorably by the House Economic Development Policy Committee on March 25th and has three additional committees of reference to make it through.  This bill is similar to CS/SB 1126 (Altman) which is in the Senate Committee on Commerce with one additional committee of reference.

Springs Protection:  CS/SB 550 (Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation) was approved on March 23rd, and referred to the first of its three remaining committees of reference. Among other things, this bill, cast as a "mega-water bill", would create "The Florida Springs Protection Act".  As delineated in Section 48 of this bill, all counties or municipalities with first or second degree springs would be designated as spring protection zones.  The bill identifies a number of requirements to reduce nitrogen in these areas that must be implemented, including septic system standards and implementation of agricultural best management practices. Local governments would be required to develop and implement a remediation plan to reduce nitrogen loading to ground water.

Please continue to provide feedback to us on these bills and other legislation being followed in APA Florida's Bill Tracking Report. The input that you provide during the Legislative Session on the numerous bills that impact growth and development in this state is of enormous value. Even though there may be varying opinions within the organization, APA Florida is often in the position of being able to share all points of view with Legislators and Legislative staff. Their appreciation of that input and expertise is tremendous. You add value to legislative deliberations and credibility to APA Florida as a resource and statewide network of planning professionals.