BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 1142 (Hutson) and HB 827 (Barnaby) prohibit the drawings of districts from favoring or disfavoring an incumbent county commissioner, municipal official or school board member. The bills require municipalities to fix the boundaries of their districts in only odd-numbered years to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to the population as possible. (Branch)

HB 707 (Learned) and SB 1158 (Jones) define "home kitchen operations" as a person or business entity that sells directly from their home to the consumer any food product (excluding raw milk and raw oysters). The bills exempt these operations from the requirements imposed on traditional public food service establishments. Additionally, the bills specify that local governments are preempted from directly regulating these operations; however, they must comply with any applicable home-based business regulations. A home kitchen operation cannot exceed annual gross sales of $250,000. (Taggart)

HB 215 (DiCeglie) and SB 254 (Brodeur) provide that an emergency order may not expressly prohibit a religious institution from regular religious services or activities. (Branch)

SB 828 (Hutson) requires local governments who operate critical infrastructure to have those systems and controls comply with and meet operational standards as defined in the ISA/IED 62443 series of standards as determined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework by July 1, 2024. ISA/IED 62443 standards are an international series of standards for industrial communication networks and systems developed by the International Society of Automation. The bill also requires local governments who operate these systems to conduct an annual risk assessment and create a mitigation plan. Systems that fall under these requirements include, but are not limited to, public transportation, water and wastewater treatment facilities, public utilities, public services subject to jurisdiction by the Public Service Commission, and public buildings. By July 1, 2026, when local governments procure automation and control system components, services, or solutions, or when contracting for facility upgrades for critical infrastructure, the local government must require those new components or services to meet the ISA/IEC 62443 standards. Additionally, the bill specifies civil penalties for non-compliance if a local government does not make a good-faith effort to comply with these standards and an incident occurs. (Taggart)

SB 450 (Jones) repeals the process allowing specified elected officials to appeal a municipal law enforcement operating budget that contains a funding reduction. (Hughes)

HB 117 (Fetterhoff) and SB 774 (Gruters) add COVID-19 and infectious diseases to the list of conditions that, if suffered by an emergency rescue or public safety worker, are presumed to have been contracted while at work for purposes of workers' compensation. Unlike similar presumptions in current law for hepatitis, meningococcal meningitis and tuberculosis, the bills do not require the public safety worker or emergency rescue worker to receive immunization against COVID-19 in order to receive the presumptive eligibility provisions afforded by workers' compensation coverage. (Cruz)

HB 233 (Willhite) and SB 408 (Jones) require businesses to accept cash payments for any good or service if the customer is physically present at the place of business. The bills exempt transactions above $5,000. Of interest to local governments, the bills exempt parking facilities owned by a municipality regardless of who operates the parking facility. (Taggart)

SB 706 (Perry) and HB 851 (McClain) require instead of encourages local governments that adopt school concurrency to apply such concurrency to development on a districtwide basis so that a concurrency determination for a specific development will be based upon the availability of school capacity districtwide. The bills specify that proportionate-share mitigation must be set aside and not spent if an improvement has not been identified. (Cruz)

HB 259 (Roth) prohibits counties and municipalities from preventing construction or placement of photovoltaic solar installation on existing permitted structures from being considered accessory uses to those structures. The bill also requires a broker to provide written disclosures regarding photovoltaic solar installations before selling residential real estate. (Cruz)

HB 219 (Tuck) revises rights that are not affected or extinguished by marketable record titles and requires persons with certain interests in land that may be extinguished by this act to file a specified notice to preserve their interests. (Cruz)

HB 739 (Borrero) and SB 1248 (Gruters) specify that a county or municipality must review applications for development permits or orders within 30 days of receiving the application and issue a letter indicating that all required information is submitted or specifying any areas that are deficient. In an attempt to make a more uniform process for future developments, the bills also require that each local government adopt residential infill development standards in its land use regulations by October 1, 2022. The legislation requires local governments to adopt certain guidelines when adopting its residential infill development standards that may preempt existing land use regulations. (Cruz)

HB 681 (Rodriguez) and SB 1030 (Taddeo) clarify that impact fee credits are assignable and transferable any time after establishment from one development or parcel to any other as long as it falls within the same impact fee zone or district, or that is within the same impact fee zone in the county or municipality. (Cruz)

HB 6017 (Eskamani)and SB 580 (Torres) – Rent Control Measures

SB 518 (Brodeur) amends current law provisions that prohibit local governments from requiring permits for the removal of "dangerous" trees on residential property. The bill clarifies what constitutes residential property and increases the level of assessment and type of documentation that must be provided by an arborist or landscape architect under the law. (Branch)

SB 962 (Bradley) allows a municipality or county greater flexibility in approving mixed-use residential development projects if the portion of the project is used for affordable housing. The bill provides for an approval process. (Branch)

SB 152 (Farmer) proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would require any general law that preempts a subject of legislation to the state to pass by a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature. (O'Hara)

SB 280 (Hutson) and HB 403 (Giallombardo) change the legal standards and processes used by courts to assess the validity of municipal ordinances and imposes new substantive requirements on municipalities for adopting and enforcing ordinances. First, the bills require a municipality to prepare a business impact statement before adopting an ordinance and specifies the minimum content that must be included in the statement. Emergency ordinances are exempt. The statement must be posted on the municipality's website concurrent with a publication of notice of the proposed ordinance. Second, the bills require a municipality to suspend enforcement of an ordinance that is the subject of a civil action, including any appeals, challenging the ordinance's validity on the grounds that it is preempted by state law, is arbitrary or unreasonable, or is otherwise prohibited by law. This requirement applies only if: the action was filed within 20 days of the ordinance's effective date; suspension of the ordinance was requested in the complaint, and the municipality was served with a copy of the complaint. Third, the bills authorize the award of attorney fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action commenced after October 1, 2022, in which the adoption or enforcement of an ordinance is alleged to be arbitrary or unreasonable or prohibited by law other than by express preemption (i.e., is impliedly preempted or is in conflict with state law). Ordinances adopted to implement Part II of Chapter 163 (comprehensive planning and land development regulation), section 553.73 (Building Code), or section 633.202 (Fire Code) are exempt from this provision. Fourth, the bill specifies factors a court must consider in determining whether an ordinance is arbitrary or unreasonable, including: the extent to which the ordinance protects public health, safety and welfare; the impact of the ordinance on the personal rights and privileges of municipal residents; the total economic impact of the ordinance; and the business impact statement prepared by the municipality. It requires courts to prioritize and expedite the disposition of cases in which enforcement of an ordinance is suspended. It authorizes the award of attorney fees and costs pursuant to section 57.112. The court prioritization and new legal standard do not apply to emergency ordinances, ordinances relating to comprehensive planning and land development regulations, ordinances implementing the Florida Building Code and ordinances implementing the Florida Fire Code. (O'Hara)

SB 620 (Hutson) and HB 569 (McClure) require compensation for business damages caused by local government ordinances or charter provisions. A business that has been engaged in a lawful business in Florida for at least three years may claim business damages from a local government if the government enacts or amends an ordinance or charter provision that will cause a reduction of at least 15% of the business' revenue or profit. A local government is not liable for business damages caused by: ordinances required to comply with state or federal law; emergency ordinances, declarations or orders adopted pursuant to the state Emergency Management Act; a temporary emergency ordinance which remains in effect for no more than 90 days; ordinances that "increase economic freedom." The bills specify procedures and methodologies for a business to recover business damages, attorney fees and costs against a local government. The bills' provisions are nearly identical to the business damage procedures set forth in Florida's eminent domain statute. (O'Hara)

HB 85 (Eskamani) and SB 246 (Book) – Tax Exemption for Diapers and Incontinence Products

HB 201 (Daley) and SB 356 (Jones) – Sales Tax Holiday for ENERGY STAR & WaterSense Products

SB 234 (Jones) and HB 613 (Robinson, F.) – Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program

HB 439 (Smith, C.) and SB 712 (Taddeo) – Small Business Saturday Sales Tax Holiday 

SB 500 (Perry) – Back-to-school Sales Tax Holiday

HB 509 (Yarborough) and SB 830 (Hooper) – Sales Tax on Mobile Homes

HB 589 (Harding) and SB 930 (Hooper) – Sales Tax Exemptions for Public Works

HB 673 (Shoaf) – Tourist development Taxes

HB 763 (Casello) and SB 1146 (Rodriguez) – Tax Exemption for Charges for Private Investigations

SB 808 (Gruters) – Sales Tax Holiday for Disaster Preparedness Supplies

HB 863 (DiCeglie) – Sales Tax Refunds for Building Mitigation Retrofit Improvements

SB 952 (Gruters) – Taxation 

SB 1130 (Brodeur) – Tax Collector Budgets

SB 1132 (Gruters) – Valuation of Timeshare Real Property

HB 6051 (Overdorf) and SB 786 (Hutson) – Aircraft Sales and Lease Tax

HB 6075 (Eskamani) – Tourist Development Taxes

HB 149 (Tuck) and SB 404 (Rodriguez) specify the methodology for the assessment of the structures and equipment used in aquaculture. The bills allow the property owner to request removal of its agriculture classification if the tax assessed based on such methodology exceeds the tax assessed based on the value of the structures and equipment. (Hughes)