As we enter the frenetic final two weeks of session, House committees are no longer meeting.  April 20^th is the last day for regularly scheduled committee meetings in the Senate.  Medicaid and educational reform issues, including the controversial and recently vetoed SB Bill 6, dominated the scene last week.  The highly anticipated budget discussions between the Senate and the House were cancelled this past weekend, which is an inauspicious start to what could be an unusually contentious budget reconciliation process. At this juncture, the main sticking point is the impasse as to whether to pass a budget relying on the nearly $1 billion of federal Medicaid- related money that has yet to be approved by the Congress.   (UPDATE: Early morning on April 19th, immediately prior to posting this report, APA Florida  learned that House and Senate leaders announced they have reached a deal on a framework on how to balance Florida's budget for the coming year and all House and Senate Budget Conference Chairs will meet at 12:15 pm.)
 

There are, however, a few bills with growth management implications that are still moving through the process.  The following report summarizes those bills that have had some movement over the past two weeks.  At this stage,  if a bill has not yet moved through most of its committees of reference, it is highly unlikely that it will end up being passed by the Legislature this year.  There simply is not enough time left. 

Please refer back to the Bill Tracking reports, as well as earlier Legislative Reporters, posted on the website for more information about bills of interest not covered herein.

Budget:  As stated above, discussion to reconcile the differences in the Senate and the House have not started to date.  The session is set to end on April 30^th but given the required 72-hour cooling off period, as a praticial matter, the budget must be completed by April 27^th.  The clock is running against an on-time adjournment. (UPDATE: Early morning on April 19th, immediately prior to posting this report, APA Florida has learned that House and Senate leaders announced they have reached a deal on a framework on how to balance Florida's budget for the coming year and all House and Senate Budget Conference Chairs will meet at 12:15 pm.)

DCA Sunset:  DCA's sunset review, a normal review done on each agency every ten years, is still underway.  CS/CS/SB 282 (Bennett) which reenacts Section 20.18, FS (DCA) and Section 420.504, FS (Florida Housing Finance Corporation), was moved favorably by the Senate Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee on April 13^th and is now headed to the Senate Floor.  However, the companion measure in the House, HB 7107, which also reauthorizes DCA with some non-growth management changes, has yet to be heard by the Economic Development and Community Affairs Council, its sole committee of reference, despite being referred to that committee on March 12^th.  The final meeting of this committee is scheduled for April 19^th; if HB 7107 is not moved in one of these meetings, the sunset review would remain in limbo until next year.  In this event, DCA would continue to function as it does currently but would have to undergo the review process again next session as the sunset process is not completed until the Legislature actually takes action.

Florida Forever:  The Senate budget does include $15 million for the Florida Forever program but the House budget does not provide any money for the program.  While advocates for funding are still working hard, the budget situation does not add much hope.  With real concern over whether the federal Medicaid money will materialize, and the fact that the program must be funded with cash as the State is currently over its 7% debt service cap, money for Florida Forever is going to be very difficult to find.

On the programmatic side, CS/SB1640er, which would reenact the Florida Forever Program Trust Fund within the Department of Community Affairs, was approved by the Governor on April 15^th  .

Growth Management:

Several bills drawn in response to the ongoing litigation regarding the constitutionality of SB 360 are moving smoothly through the process.  HB 7099E1 (Military & Local Affairs Committee) was adopted by the House on April 13^th   and filed on the same day.   CS/CS/SB 2452 was moved favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 7^th and was on the Senate Special Order Calendar on April 16^th.  The House bill was substituted and rolled over to Third Reading.  This bill would reauthorize the exemptions created in SB 360 and would apply retroactively.  This would apply to approved or pending DRI exemptions, 2-year permit extensions, and any adopted comprehensive plan amendment to authorize a transportation concurrency exception area.  

CS/SB 1752E1 (Gaetz),  a proposed "jobs bill" that generated considerable concern when a number of amendments dealing with permit review and delegation were added on, was sent to the House in Messages on March 31^st but has no action since then.  This bill includes language similar to CS/CS/SB 2452 and HB 7099E1.

Taking a different approach from the above bills, CS/ HB 1509 would extend the current permit extension language in portions of Section 14, Chapter 2009-96 from two years to three years.  This bill was passed favorably by its last committee of reference, the Finance and Tax Council, on April 14^th.

CS/HB 7129 (Military & Local Affairs Policy Committee) would amend section 163.3175 which addresses local 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  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 Commission can impose sanctions if notified by DCA. This bill was placed on the House Calendar on second reading on March 31, 2010.  A similar bill, CS/SB 274 (Bennett), was passed favorably by the Senate Community Affairs Committee on April 7^th but still has three committees of reference left to move through.

Public Participation: Althought there were several bills filed at the beginning of the session that focused on public participation and public notice, most failed to make any progress, including HB 733 (Sands) and SB 1942 (Smith) that would require public participation plans in the comprehensive planning process. This is a clear indication, as we have reported previously, of the 2010 Legislature's general reluctance to address growth management issues.

Transportation Concurrency Exemptions: Two bills which include transportation concurrency exemptions language have 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 by the House on April 15th, immediately certified and sent to the Senate that same day.  Its Senate companion bill, SB 1518 (Altman) was moved favorably by the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee on April 6^th and placed on the Senate Special Order Calendar for April 15^th.  At that time, CS/143 was substituted for the bill.

Energy/Climate Change:  CS/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 moved favorably by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee on April 6^th and is scheduled to be heard by its final committee of reference, Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means on April 20th . A similar bill in the House, CS/HB 7179 (Energy & Utilities Policy Committee), was passed favorably by the General Government Policy Council, its last committee of reference and placed on the House Calender.

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 placed on the Senate Special Order Calendar for April 16th and rolled over for Third Reading.  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 the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (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 is scheduled to be heard by the Full Appropraitions Council on Education & Economic Development on April 19th but still has one additional committee of reference to make it through.  This bill is similar to CS/SB 1126 (Altman) which was moved favorably by the Senate Committee on Commerce on April 7^th with one additional committee of reference.

Springs Protection:  CS/CS/SB 550 (Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation) was moved favorably by the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee on  April 6th and will be heard by the Policy & Steering Committee on Ways and Means on April 20th if received.   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.

Affordable Housing:  CS/CS/CS/HB 665 (Aubuchon) is the omnibus affordable housing bill.  Among its provisions is the repeal on the cap on the Sadowski trust funds, and direction to use trust fund monies to create housing related jobs, move existing inventory, and preserve /rehabilitate existing affordable housing.  It also would require that the housing elements of comprehensive plans address the provision of affordable housing for seniors.  The bill was passed favorably by Economic Development and Community Affairs Policy Council on April 7^th and has been placed on the House Calendar for Second Reading.  The Senate measure, CS/CS/SB 262 (Bennett, Altman) is now in the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee with one additional committee of reference.

Working Waterfronts:  There are several bills dealing with working waterfronts that have started to move.  CS/CS/SB 346 (Dean) and CS/SB 1408 (Finance and Tax) deal with the classification of properties as working waterfronts and their subsequent property tax appraisals.   Both were passed favorably by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee on April 13^th and have one further committee of reference.  CS/HB 7127 (Finance and Tax Council), which deals with some of the same issues, was passed by the Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development on April 9^th and placed on the House Special Order Calendar for April 19th.  This bill also includes program project selection objectives for the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Program and Florida Forever program.

Agriculture:  There are several bills related to agriculture that have made progress recently. CS/CS/SB 382 (Dean), which requires, among other things, that the agriculture use of land acquired through fee simple be given priority when managing the land was moved favorably by the Senate Community Affairs Committee on April 14^th but has three more committees of reference. 
 

SB 2074 (Peaden) prohibits local governments from enforcing certain activity limits or charging certain assessments on agricultural land,  It creates the Agricultural Land Acknowledgement Act, designed to reduce conflict between agricultural and non agricultural uses to protect the sustainable agricultural use. This bill was passed favorably by the Senate Finance & Tax Committee on April 13^th and will be heard by its last committee, General Government Appropriations, on April 19^th.   CS/CS/CS/SB 2182 (Alexander) which clarifies that land that is classified as agricultural retains that classification when offered for sale,  was passed favorably by the General Government Appropriations Committee on April 13^th.   

 

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.