BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 405 (Tramont) proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would prohibit nonpartisan municipal elections. The proposal also provides that only qualified electors in a municipal election with the same party affiliation as a candidate for office may vote in the primary election for such office (even if a candidate has no opponent with a different party affiliation). The same prohibitions and limitations are imposed on all other state, county and local primary elections, including school boards. In addition, the proposal specifies that a candidate for office may not be prohibited from disclosing his or her party affiliation to the electors and may not be prohibited from campaigning or qualifying for office based on party affiliation. (O’Hara)

HB 37 (Roach) requires all municipal mayors, city commissioners, elected members of a municipal governing body, and all municipal and county managers to file an annual Full Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 6) with the Florida Commission on Ethics. These individuals are currently required to file only a Limited Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 1). (O’Hara)

HB 199 (Hunschofsky) and HB 241 (Daley) would remove a current law exemption in the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees for officers of certain special taxing districts created by general or special law relating to conflicting employment and contractual relationships. The effect of the revision would make such officers subject to the prohibition against holding conflicting employment or contractual relationships. In addition, HB 241 would require ethics training for elected local officers of independent special districts. (O’Hara)

HB 473 (Eskamani) – Agreement for Best Practices in Economic Development

HB 413 (Abbott) prohibits agency agreements from requiring local governments within a rural area of opportunity to expend funds in order to be reimbursed. Agency funding may be advanced to cities and counties based on an analysis of estimated costs, pay service providers or vendors directly or undertake other options to meet the requirements of the agreement. (Taggart)

HB 327 (Bell) and SB 408 (Perry) define a fire sprinkler system project as an alteration of a total of 20 or fewer fire sprinklers or the installation or replacement of an equivalent fire sprinkler system component in an existing building. A local government may require a contractor as a condition of obtaining a permit for a fire sprinkler system project, but may not require a contractor to submit plans or specifications as a condition of obtaining the permit. All documents for a fire sprinkler system project must be available to the inspector at each inspection. (Branch)

HB 89 (Maggard) would prohibit a local government from making substantive changes to building plans after a permit has been issued. If substantive changes are made after a permit is issued, the local government must identify the specific plan features that do not comply with the Florida Fire Prevention Code or Life Safety or local amendments, identify the specific code

chapters and sections upon which the finding is based and provide this information to the permitholder. A local fire inspector who fails to comply is subject to disciplinary action. (Branch)

HB 235 (Robinson, W.) provides clarity to local government adoption of a mobility plan and a mobility fee system. A mobility plan identifies various multimodal projects necessary to permit redevelopment, infill projects, and development. A mobility fee is a one-time fee paid by a developer to a local government to cover the costs of the improvements necessary to fully mitigate the development’s impact on the transportation system. The bill would prohibit a transportation impact fee or fee that is not a mobility-based fee from being imposed within the area that is within a mobility plan. The bill would require mobility fees to be updated every five  years once adopted or updated. The bill outlines the comprehensive requirements a local government must follow in implementing the mobility plan and mobility fee system. In addition, the bill makes a revision to the impact fee statute that was substantially amended during the 2021 Legislative Session. Current law now limits the amount impact fees can be increased by, and it requires a phase-in period depending on the amount an impact fee is increased by. However, current law also provides an exception to the impact fee increase process by allowing for increases to be greater than the requirements if the governmental entity establishes the need for the increased fee pursuant to the rational nexus test, uses a study (completed within the 12 months preceding the increase) showing that extraordinary circumstances require the additional increase, holds at least two publicly noticed workshops, and adopts the increase by a 2/3 vote. HB 235 will eliminate this exception to impact fee increases. Therefore, all impact fee increases will have to comply with the increase limits and phase-in requirements provided for in the current law, with no exception. (Cruz)

HB 41 (Garcia) would prohibit an initiative or referendum process for any amendment to local land development regulations. Under current law, the initiative or referendum process is prohibited for any development order and, under certain circumstances, local comprehensive plan or map amendments. The bill would now also prohibit the use of initiatives or referendums for any amendment to land development regulations. The bill is drafted to be remedial in nature and would render null and void any referenda or initiative actions pertaining to land development regulations commenced after June 11, 2011. (Chapman)

HB 37 (Roach) requires all municipal mayors, city commissioners, elected members of a municipal governing body, and all municipal and county managers to file an annual Full Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 6) with the Florida Commission on Ethics. These individuals are currently required to file only a Limited Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 1). (O’Hara)

SB 100 (Garcia) – Mangrove Replanting & Restoration

HB 55 (Garcia) and SB 108 (Rodriguez) – Trees and Other Vegetation within Rights-of-Way

SB 54 (Rodriguez) and HB 135 (Mooney) – Land Acquisition Trust Fund

HB 125 (McClain) – Utility System Rate Base Values

HB 23 (Bell) and SB 162 (Collins) state that water and wastewater facility operators are essential first responders. The bills require the Department of Environmental Protection to issue a license by reciprocity to any applicant who: (1) is a water treatment plant operator, water distribution system operator or domestic wastewater treatment plant operator and who holds an active and valid license from another state, the federal government or tribal government, for which the licensure requirements are comparable to or exceed Florida’s licensure requirements; (2) has passed a licensure examination comparable to the Department’s licensure examination, subject to approval of the Department; (3) is not the subject of a disciplinary or enforcement action outside of Florida at the time of application; (4) submits a completed application for reciprocal licensure; and (5) remits the application fee. The bills further direct the Department to issue a license by reciprocity to any applicant who: (1) has performed comparable duties while serving in the U.S. armed forces, for which the requirements for performing the duties are comparable to or exceed the Department’s licensure requirements; (2) has passed a skills assessment or competency examination comparable to the Department’s licensure exam, subject to approval by the Department; (3) is not the subject of any disciplinary or enforcement action at the time of application; (4) submits a completed application to the Department; and (5) remits the application fee. Lastly, the bills authorize the Department, during a declared state of emergency, to issue a temporary operator license by reciprocity under specified conditions and to waive the application fee for such temporary operator license. (O’Hara)

HB 177 (Gossett-Seldman) requires the Department of Health to adopt and enforce certain rules and issue health advisories for beach waters and public bathing places if the results of bacteriological water sampling at the site fail to meet health standards. The bill also expands the current law preemption of the issuance of health advisories related to bacteriological sampling of beach waters to include public bathing places. It specifies that beach waters and public bathing places must close if closure is necessary to protect health and safety and must remain closed until the water quality is restored in accordance with the Department’s standards. The bill requires the Department to adopt by rule specifications for signage that must be used when it issues a health advisory against swimming in affected beach waters or public bathing places due to elevated levels of specified bacteria and requires such signage to be placed at beach access points and access points to public bathing places until the health advisory is removed. It specifies that municipalities and counties are responsible for posting and maintaining the signage around beaches and public bathing places they own. Finally, the bill requires the Department to develop an interagency database for reporting fecal indicator bacteria data and specifies that fecal indicator bacteria relating to sampled beach waters and public bathing places must be published in the database within five business days after receipt of the data. (O’Hara)

HB 111 (Hunschofsky) revises current law provisions that require certain public-financed projects and infrastructure to undergo a Sea Level Impact Projection Study prior to construction. The bill expands the types of projects and infrastructure subject to the requirement by including “potentially at-risk” projects within an area that is “at risk due to sea-level rise.” The bill defines “at risk due to sea-level rise” and “potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure.” The bill also adds a requirement that a public-financed constructor provide a list of flood mitigation strategies evaluated as part of the design of the potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure and identify the flood mitigation strategies that have been implemented or are being considered as part of the structure or infrastructure design. (O’Hara)

HB 175 (Busatta Cabrera) requires comprehensive plans and plan amendments that apply to any land within, or within 2 miles of, the Everglades Protection Area (EPA) to follow the state coordinated review process for state agency compliance review under Part II, Chapter 163, Florida Statutes, and requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to coordinate with the affected local governments on mitigation measures for plans or plan amendments that would impact Everglades restoration. The EPA consists of the three state-designated Water Conservations Areas (WCA-1, WCA-2 and WCA-3) as well as Everglades National Park. If DEP determines that any portion of a proposed plan or proposed amendment will adversely impact the EPA or Everglades restoration objectives, the local government must modify the plan or plan amendment to mitigate such impacts before adoption of the plan or amendment, or that portion of the plan or amendment may not be adopted. Plan amendments that apply to any land within, or within two miles of, the EPA must be transmitted to DEP within 10 days of the second public hearing on the amendment. Finally, the bill requires a county whose boundaries include any portion of the EPA, and the municipalities within the county (any municipality within Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade County), to transmit a copy of any small-scale plan amendment to the Department of Economic Opportunity within 10 days after adoption. (O’Hara)

HB 77 (Fabricio) provides that beginning July 2023, the ground vibration limit for construction materials mining activities within one mile of residentially zoned areas may not exceed .15 inches per second. The bill authorizes the Chief Financial Officer to direct the State Fire Marshal to modify the standards for the use of explosives in connection with construction materials mining activities within one mile of residentially zoned areas. (O’Hara)

SB 64 (Hooper) – Department of Transportation

HB 155 (Holcomb) – Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority

HB 85 (Snyder) – Causes of Action Based on Improvements to Real Property

SB 92 (Garcia) and HB 105 (Basabe) codify the ability of local governments to require vacation rental owners or operators to designate and maintain at all times the name and contact information of a responsible party who is able to respond to complaints and other immediate problems related to the property. (Taggart)

HB 25 (Benjamin) – Citizen’s Arrest

HB 45 (Skidmore) and SB 66 (Berman) – Risk Protection Orders

HB 151 (Daley) and SB 146 (Polsky) – Sale or Transfer of Ammunition

HB 153 (Daley) and SB 148 (Polsky) – Pub. Rec./Sales of Ammunition