BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

CS/HB 53 (DiCeglie) and CS/SB 1076 (Brodeur) require local governments to utilize competitive bidding processes when contracting city, town or county public works projects. The bills also block a local government from training employees in designated programs with a restricted curriculum or from a single source and local ordinances that require things like apprenticeship programs. (Taggart)

CS/HB 401 (Fetterhoff) and SB 1146 (Brodeur) allow for substantially affected people to submit a petition to the Florida Building Commission for a nonbinding advisory opinion if a local government adopts a regulation or policy without following the process established in the Florida Building Code. The bills define who a substantially affected person is and the process for submitting the petition. The bills define the process for how the commission must consider petitions and the length of time before the Commission must issue its non-binding advisory opinion, and where the opinion must be published. The bills allow for the Commission to make changes to the Florida Building Code to correct errors but only with a 75% vote of the Commission. A local government may not require a contract between a builder and an owner for the issuance of a building permit or as a requirement for the submission of a building permit application. (Taggart)

HB 1017 (Rayner) and SB 1648 (Powell) authorize local governments the ability to waive the fees associated with enforcing the Florida Building Code for development, construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing. (Taggart)

CS/HB 667 (Mooney) and CS/SB 1382 (Perry) require counties and local enforcement agencies that issue building permits to allow requests for inspections to be submitted electronically. The bills also authorize these agencies to perform inspections virtually at their discretion. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 55 (Overdorf) and CS/SB 284 (Perry) preempt local governments from adopting zoning and development regulations that require specific building design elements for single- and two-family dwellings, unless certain conditions are met. The bills define the term “building design elements” to mean exterior color, type or style of exterior cladding; style or material of roof structures or porches; exterior nonstructural architectural ornamentation; location or architectural styling of windows or doors; and number, type and layout of rooms. The bills were amended to exempt historic districts, CRAs and planned unit developments created before July 1, 2021. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 1059 (Robinson) and CS/SB 1788 (Boyd) require local government to post certain building permit information on their websites, including the status of each application. The bills also require the local government to reduce the permit fee by a specified amount every 10 days if they failed to issue a building permit for a single-family residential dwelling within the timeframe already established by current law. The bills prohibit the local government from requiring an applicant to provide a copy of their contract with or between a contractor as a condition of the application for a building permit. (Taggart)

CS/SB 64 (Albritton) and CS/HB 263 (Maggard) require certain domestic wastewater utilities to submit a plan to the Department of Environmental Protection by November 2021 for eliminating non-beneficial surface water discharges (e.g., treated effluent, reclaimed water or reuse water) within a five-year time frame. The bills require DEP to approve such plans if a plan meets the following conditions: The plan will result in eliminating the surface water discharge, the plan will result in meeting statutory requirements relating to ocean outfalls or the plan does not provide for the complete elimination of the surface water discharge but affirmatively demonstrates that specified conditions are present. The conditions are: The discharge is associated with an indirect potable reuse project, the discharge is a wet weather discharge in accordance with a permit, the discharge is into a stormwater system for subsequent withdrawal for irrigation purposes, the utility has a reuse system that achieves 90% reuse of reclaimed water or the discharge provides direct ecological or public water supply benefits. In addition, CS/SB 64 (but not CS/HB 263) requires DEP to also approve a plan if a utility demonstrates that it is technically, economically or environmentally infeasible to implement the requirements within five years; that implementing the requirements would create severe undue economic hardship on the community served and that the plan implements the requirements to the extent feasible. Plans approved by DEP must be fully implemented by January 2028 except for plans that implement a potable reuse project, in which case such projects must be implemented by January 2030. A utility that fails to timely submit an approved plan may not discharge to surface waters after January 2028. Violations of the bills’ requirements are subject to administrative and civil penalties. The bills require utilities to update plans on an annual basis and demonstrate whether statutory conditions and exemptions remain applicable. The bills require DEP to submit an annual report to the governor and Legislature detailing implementation status. The bills exempt the following domestic wastewater facilities from its requirements: facilities located in a fiscally constrained county, facilities located in a municipality that is entirely within a rural area of opportunity and facilities located in a municipality having less than $10,000 in total annual revenue. The bills authorize DEP to establish a potable reuse technical advisory committee, provide that potable reuse projects are eligible for alternative water supply funding and provide that potable reuse projects are eligible for expedited permitting and priority state funding. CS/SB 64 requires local governments to offer density or intensity bonuses to developers to fully offset the developers’ capital costs of purchasing and installing residential graywater technologies in proposed or existing developments containing at least 25 residential dwellings; CS/HB 263 requires local governments to offer a 15% density or intensity bonus instead of a full offset. (O’Hara)

HB 859 (Grant) and CS/SB 912 (Albritton) add development permits and development agreements authorized by state law, including those authorized under the Florida Local Government Agreement Act or issued by local government or other governmental agency, to the list of permits and authorizations that are tolled and extended during a state of emergency for a natural emergency. The bills would apply to any declaration of a state of emergency issued by the governor for a natural emergency dating back to March 1, 2020. Both bills are effective upon becoming law. (Cruz)

SB 208 (Brandes) and HB 775 (Omphroy) allows the owner of a business or a contracted third party to install, maintain and operate a renewable energy source device on or about the structure in which the business operates or on any property the business leases. The bill provides the business owner or third party may sell the electricity that is generated from the device to another business immediately adjacent to or within the same parcel as the business and such sales shall not be considered or regulated as retail sales of electricity. The bill provides that if the energy-producing business or its customers require additional related services from a utility, such as backup generation capacity or transmission services, the utility may recover the full cost of providing those services. The bill authorizes a utility to enter a contract with a business to install, maintain or operate any type of renewable energy source device on or about the structure from which the business operates and to sell the electricity to an adjacent business and the bill provides that such electricity sales shall not be considered or regulated as retail sales of electricity. The bill specifies that if the Public Service Commission determines that the level of reduction in electricity purchases by customers using renewable energy source devices is significant enough to adversely impact the rates that other customers pay in the rate territory, the Commission may approve a utility’s requests to recover its costs of providing the electricity needed by all customers, including customers using a renewable energy source device. The bill provides for methodology of such cost recovery, a process for customers to challenge the cost recovery and authorized rulemaking by the Commission. The bill may have a negative fiscal impact on municipal revenues, including potential impacts to municipal electric franchise revenues and municipal public service utility taxes. (O’Hara)

HB 1409 (Byrd) and SB 1884 (Rodrigues) expand the scope of when an individual or organization may file suit against a municipality for violating the state preemption on firearms and ammunition to include any local policies that are written or unwritten. Current law awards the prevailing plaintiff attorney fees. The bills would consider the plaintiff the prevailing party even if the local government voluntarily changes their ordinance or policy, written or unwritten. (Taggart)

SB 154 (Diaz) amends multiple provisions related to local government financial transparency. The bill expands public notice and public hearing requirements for local option tax increases, other than property taxes and taxes adopted by referendum and new long-term tax-supported debt issuances. Each local government is required to prominently post on its website the voting records on any action taken by its governing board related to tax increases and new tax-supported debt issuances. The bill imposes requirements on county property appraisers and local governments relating to Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices, millage rate history and the amount of tax levied by each taxing authority on each parcel.

Additionally, local governments will be required to conduct a debt affordability analysis prior to approving the issuance of new long-term tax-supported debt. The bill requires the local government annual audit reports to include information regarding compliance with the requirements of this newly created section of law. Failure to comply would result in the withholding of state-shared revenues. The bill revises the local government reporting requirements for economic development incentives. It requires each municipality to report to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research whether the incentive is provided directly to an individual business or by another entity on behalf of the local government and the source of dollars obligated for the incentive (including local, state and federal). (Hughes)

SB 452 (Bracy) and HB 569 (Chambliss) require law enforcement agencies to require officers to wear body cameras and use vehicle dash cameras while on duty. The bills do not provide a funding source for law enforcement agencies to comply with the bill. (Taggart)

CS/HB 401 (Fetterhoff) and SB 1146 (Brodeur) allow for substantially affected people to submit a petition to the Florida Building Commission for a nonbinding advisory opinion if a local government adopts a regulation or policy without following the process established in the Florida Building Code. The bills define who a substantially affected person is and the process for submitting the petition. The bills define the process for how the commission must consider petitions and the length of time before the Commission must issue its non-binding advisory opinion, and where the opinion must be published. The bills allow for the Commission to make changes to the Florida Building Code to correct errors but only with a 75% vote of the Commission. A local government may not require a contract between a builder and an owner for the issuance of a building permit or as a requirement for the submission of a building permit application. (Taggart)

CS/HB 331 (McClure) and SB 694 (Rodrigues) require a local government that displaces an existing solid waste provider to, in addition to the procedural and three-year notice requirements in current law, pay the provider an amount equal to the company’s preceding 18 months’ gross receipts for the service in the displaced area. (O’Hara)

CS/HB 573 (Beltran) and CS/SB 758 (Diaz) create a new statute establishing standards and mandatory five hours of training for the fiduciary duty of care for appointed local public officers and executive officers of local government entities. In addition, the bills impose restrictions on legal representation by government attorneys. The fiduciary duty and training requirements apply to appointed officials of various local boards and committees, including code enforcement boards, planning and zoning boards, land use boards, community redevelopment agency boards and pension boards. CS/SB 758 was amended to remove pension and retirement boards from the bill. CS/HB 573 was amended to remove certain municipal boards from the bill, such as code enforcement, planning and zoning, CRA and pension boards. The bills provide that each appointed public official and executive officer has a fiduciary duty of care to the governmental entity served and has a duty to act in accordance with laws and terms governing the office or employment, act with the care and competence normally exercised by private business professionals, act only within the scope of authority and refrain from conduct likely to damage the economic interests of the governmental entity. Further, such persons must become reasonably informed in connection with any decision-making function and keep reasonably informed concerning the performance of a governmental entity’s officers, agents and employees. The bills impose training requirements on appointed public officers and executive officers that require completion of at least five hours of board governance training per term served. The bills specify the minimum content of such training programs, including board governance best practices and fiduciary duty of care and liabilities imposed by the new law. The bills provide that all legal counsel employed by a governmental entity must represent the legal interest and position of the governing body of the governmental entity and not the interest of any individual or employee of the governmental entity. (O’Hara)

HB 877 (Bell) authorizes first responders (EMTs and paramedics) to carry a concealed firearm while performing his or her duties. The bill requires the first responder to hold a valid concealed carry license and complete an extensive training program. The bill also requires the first responder to complete a psychological evaluation prior to receiving approval to carry a firearm while on duty. The bill mandates that the employment agency must fund the trainings required under the bill but does not designate a funding source. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 55 (Overdorf) and CS/SB 284 (Perry) preempt local governments from adopting zoning and development regulations that require specific building design elements for single- and two-family dwellings, unless certain conditions are met. The bills define the term “building design elements” to mean exterior color, type or style of exterior cladding; style or material of roof structures or porches; exterior nonstructural architectural ornamentation; location or architectural styling of windows or doors; and number, type and layout of rooms. The bills were amended to exempt historic districts, CRAs and planned unit developments created before July 1, 2021. (Taggart)

SB 732 (Bracy) increases the amount of time a law enforcement agency must retain body camera recordings from 90 days to 365 days. (Taggart)

CS/HB 1567 (DiCeglie) and SB 1944 (Albritton) give very broad authority to the Public Service Commission to regulate and enforce rates, charges, terms and conditions in situations in which a pole owner is unable to reach an agreement with a party seeking pole attachments. The bills define “redundant pole” and require that attaching entities remove their pole attachments from a redundant pole within 90 days of a written request by the pole owner. Under certain circumstances, the pole owner may transfer or relocate the pole attachment to a new pole at the non-compliant attaching entity's expense, unless the pole attachments are owned by an electric utility. In SB 1944, the definitions of “pole” and “pole attachment” are very broad and could have unintended consequences. CS/HB 1567 was amended to clarify that municipal-owned rights of way and municipal electric poles are not included. The League is neutral on CS/HB 1567. (Hughes)

CS/CS/SB 522 (Diaz) and CS/HB 219 (Fischer) change current law relating to vacation rentals, also known as short-term rentals (STRs). The bills would:

•Clarify the definition of an advertising platform to capture online marketplaces.

•Preempt to the state the regulation of advertising platforms.

•Allow a “grandfathered” city to amend its short-term rental regulations if the amendment makes the regulation less restrictive.

•Require the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to maintain vacation rental property license information in an accessible electronic format.

•Require advertising platforms to verify a property’s license number prior to publishing its advertisement on its platform and every quarter thereafter.

•Require advertising platforms to quarterly provide the department with the physical

address of the vacation rental properties that advertise on their platforms.

•Impose a duty on advertising platforms to collect and remit taxes in relation to the

rental of a vacation rental property through its platform.

•Establish requirements that advertising platforms adopt an anti-discrimination

policy and inform their users of the public lodging discrimination prohibition found in current law.

•Clarify that the provision of the bill shall not supersede any current or future community association-governing document. 

•Require sexual predators to notify local law enforcement if they will be staying for 24 hours or more in a short-term rental.

Preemption provisions included in CS/HB 219 only:

•Preempt to the state the regulation of STRs, including licensure and inspections.

•Undo any local registration, inspection or licensing requirements specific to STRs adopted since 2014.

•Require that any ordinances (noise, parking, trash, etc.), must be applied uniformly to all residential properties, regardless of how the property is being used.

CS/CS/SB 522 was significantly amended to remove the majority of the preemptions in the bill that still remain in the House version of the bill. SB 522 also specifies that advertising platforms must comply with any applicable merchant business tax receipts on short-term rentals. (Taggart)