BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 1016 (Rouson) refines the term “infrastructure” for purposes of the Local Government Infrastructure Surtax to include authorized expenditures for certain affordable residential housing. (Hughes)

SB 930 (Gainer) and HB 769 (Trumbull) exempt from public records requirements certain financial and taxpayer personal identifying information held by a county or municipality in connection with the collection or administration of a local business tax. (Hughes)

SB 990 (Hutson) and HB 721 (Roth) allow the state's chief financial officer to designate credit unions as qualified public depositories after meeting certain criteria. (Hughes)

HB 7007 (Oversight, Transparency & Public Management Subcommittee) and SB 7004 (Finance and Tax) maintain the current public record exemption for taxpayer e-mail addresses held by tax collectors for certain tax notice purposes. (Hughes)

SB 126 (Gruters) and HB 159 (Clemons) require retailers with no physical presence in Florida to collect Florida’s sales tax on sales of taxable items delivered to purchasers in Florida if the retailer makes a substantial number of sales into Florida or provides for the taxation of sales facilitated through a marketplace provider. The bill also deletes a provision that exempts an out-of-state dealer which makes retail sales into this state from collecting and remitting any local option surtax. (Hughes)

SB 1512 (Diaz) and CS/HB 7069 (State Affairs) repeal an existing reporting requirement that municipalities report certain budget and economic data to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research and replace it with a new reporting requirement. The bills require municipalities and counties to electronically submit to the Department of Financial Services all necessary information needed to facilitate the department preparing a local government report and interactive website that can be used to compare and rank local governments. Some of the information that may need to be submitted includes government spending per capita, government debt per capita, crime rates, school grades, median income and unemployment. The department will adopt, by rule, the method and format of the required reporting. CS/HB 7069 also requires that the local government report grade cities and counties, using an “A” through “F” grading scale, on factors such as government spending, debt, public safety and education. Given the difference in the scope and breadth of the services provided by cities, ranking and comparing municipalities will generate data that may have no value and, in fact, could cause confusion among residents. CS/HB 7069 passed the House (83-34) and is awaiting Senate action. (Hughes)

HB 1149 (DiCeglie) and SB 1702 (Diaz) amend multiple provisions related to local government financial transparency. The bills expand 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 bills impose 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 bills require 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 bills revise the local government reporting requirements for economic development incentives. They require 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)

HJR 477 (Rommel) proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution requiring that any local tax or fee that is imposed, authorized or raised by a local jurisdiction, including municipalities, be approved by two-thirds of the membership of the jurisdiction. “Fee” is defined as any charge or payment required by ordinance or regulation. The proposed amendment requires any local tax or fee imposed or raised under this section to be contained in a separate resolution or ordinance. This proposed amendment would require 60 percent approval of the electorate for passage. (Hughes)

HB 701 (Fischer) and SB 1174 (Hutson) reform the communications services tax (CST) to clarify that certain streaming services are subject to the tax and create uniform rates. The bills reduce the local CST rate to 5% or less by January 1, 2021, and 4% or less by January 1, 2022. The bills also reduce the state CST rate from 4.92% to 4.9% and the noncharter county CST rate to 2% by January 1, 2022. The bills repeal the local option sales surtax conversion that is levied on communications services. The Revenue Estimating Conference has partially determined the fiscal impact of this bill. It is estimated to negatively impact local government revenues by $190 million each year. (Hughes)

SB 516 (Gruters) – Campaign Financing

HB 491 (Payne) – Disposition of Surplus Funds by Candidates

SB 1162 (Cruz) – Legislature

SB 1110 (Baxley) and HB 1325 (Aloupis)– Repeal of Public Campaign Financing Requirement

SB 1108 (Baxley) – Campaign Finance

SB 1312 (Montford) and HB 1005 (Byrd) – Voting Systems

HB 1305 (Thompson) and SB 1806 (Stewart) – Elections

SB 1354 (Brandes) – Statewide Voter Registration Application

SB 1816 (Powell) – Free and Fair Elections

HB 1159 (Hill) – Vote-by-Mail Ballots

SB 1820 (Rader) – Mail Ballot Elections

SB 1840 (Powell) – Election Security Measures

SB 1850 (Rodriguez) would require a state officer who abstains from voting due to a prohibited conflict to publicly disclose, prior to the vote being taken, the nature and manner of the conflict. The bill amends voting conflict disclosure requirements for local officers by requiring the disclosure of the time and manner in which the officer became aware of the conflict. (O’Hara)

HB 1417 (Polo) amends the conflicting and continuing conflict employment provisions of the state Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees. It provides that officers of a legislative body may not receive compensation for serving on a board, commission, committee, council or authority, other than his or her assigned legislative committee, as part of his or her employment or contractual relationship with an entity that is regulated by another agency (and not the legislative body). (O’Hara)

SB 1538 (Gruters) and CS/CS/HB 1111 (Tomkow) create the Florida Integrity Office and the position of Florida Integrity Officer within the Office of the Auditor General. The bills authorize the integrity officer to investigate complaints alleging waste, fraud, abuse, misconduct or gross mismanagement (as defined in the bills) in connection with the expenditure of public funds within and by state and local government. The bills authorize the integrity officer to refer a matter to the auditor general, the appropriate law enforcement agency, the chief financial officer, the Office of the Chief Inspector General or the appropriate agency inspector general. The bills direct the auditor general and the integrity officer to conduct random audits and inspections of appropriations projects appropriated in the prior year. The bills authorize the auditor general and the Florida integrity officer to investigate or audit the activities of any political subdivision, unit of local authority or local council or commission. The bills amend the definition for “abuse” and define “misconduct” relating to audits by the auditor general. The bills define “fraud,” “waste,” “abuse” and “misconduct” and provide procedures for the Inspector General to report on activities by public officials or agencies to the Florida integrity officer. The bills impose personal liability for repayment of funds upon persons or officials responsible for determinations of fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement or misconduct in government. The bills authorize the chief financial officer to commence investigations based on complaints or referral from any source. The bills require reporting from agency inspectors general on savings or recovery of public funds resulting from reports under the state Whistleblower Act. The bills remove “gross mismanagement” from the definitions of mismanagement in the state Whistleblower Act and specify conditions for whistleblower awards. The bills require each public agency contract for services entered or amended after July 2020 to authorize the public agency to inspect specified records of the contractor. The bills prohibit the use of state or local incentive funds to be paid to a state contractor or subcontractor for services provided or expenditures incurred pursuant to a state contract. CS/CS/HB 1111 was amended to include the language from CS/CS/SB 1270 (see bill above) and also creates a new statute establishing standards for the fiduciary duty of care for appointed public officers and executive officers of specified governmental entities. “Appointed public official” is defined to include “state officers” as well as “local officers” such as appointed members of the governing body of a municipality; a board authorized to enforce local code provisions; a board having the power to recommend, create or modify land planning or zoning (but not citizen advisory committees); and community redevelopment boards. “Executive officer” is defined as the chief executive officer of a governmental entity. The bill provides 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 reasonably prudent persons in similar corporate positions, 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 bill imposes 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 bill requires the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to approve a web-based training program or publish a list of approved training providers. The bill specifies 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 bill provides that governmental entities with annual revenues of less than $300,000 may have governance training provided by in-house counsel of the governmental entity. Governmental entities whose annual revenues are less than $100,000 and appointed officials who hold elected office in another capacity are exempt from the training requirement. The bill provides 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, unless such representation is directed by the governmental entity. The House bills are on Special Order Calendar awaiting action by that body while the Senate bill has not been heard yet. (O’Hara)

HB 1113 (Beltran) and CS/CS/SB 1270 (Lee) create a new statute establishing standards for the fiduciary duty of care for appointed public officers and executive officers of specified governmental entities. “Appointed public official” is defined to include “state officers” as well as “local officers,” such as appointed members of the governing body of a municipality, a board authorized to enforce local code provisions, a board having the power to recommend, create or modify land planning or zoning (but not citizen advisory committees) and community redevelopment boards. “Executive officer” is defined as the chief executive officer of a governmental entity. 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 reasonably prudent persons in similar corporate positions, act only within the scope of authority, 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 require the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to approve a web-based training program or publish a list of approved training providers. 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 governmental entities with annual revenues of less than $300,000 may have governance training provided by in-house counsel of the governmental entity. Governmental entities whose annual revenues are less than $100,000 and appointed officials who hold elected office in another capacity are exempt from the training requirement. 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, unless such representation is directed by the governmental entity. CS/CS/SB 1270 passed the Senate by a vote of 38-1 and is awaiting action by the House. (O’Hara)

CS/HB 1185 (Brannon) and SB 1530 (Baxley) make changes to the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees (Code). The bills prohibit a governmental entity or person acting on its behalf, or an elected official, from authorizing the use of an elected official’s name, likeness or other symbol of office in a public service announcement during the elected official’s qualifying period prior to election or re-election, if such announcement is paid for with public funds or if the time or space for such announcement is donated by the media. The bills provide exceptions for certain charitable organizations, bona fide news events and publicly broadcasted debates. The bills modify the conflicting employment or contractual relationship prohibition in the Code to provide that a public officer or employee may not hold an employment or contractual relationship with an entity that is subject to the regulation of or is doing business with the officer or employee’s agency, rather than any agency. The bills clarify the continuing conflicts prohibition in the Code and require disclosure by an agency or solicited business entity if a public officer or employee solicits an employment or a contractual relationship that is prohibited by the Code and provide such disclosure may be investigated by the Commission on Ethics as if it was a complaint. The bills provide additional standards and disclosures for statewide elected officers, legislators, state officers and state agency employees regarding solicitation of employment while an officer or candidate for office and authorize the Commission to investigate a disclosure as if it was a complaint. The bills modify lobbyist registration and reporting requirements applicable to lobbying before the executive branch. (O’Hara)

HB 7009 (Committee on Public Integrity & Ethics) and SB 7006 (Ethics and Elections Committee) reenact provisions of the Florida Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees that provide penalties for violations of the statute. Re-enactment of the provision will make the statutory penalties applicable to amendments to the Florida Constitution by Amendment 12 adopted in the 2019 general election, which prohibits a public officer or public employee from abusing her or her public office to obtain a disproportionate benefit. HB 7009 passed the House and Senate and is awaiting action by the governor. (O’Hara)

SB 442 (Rader) requires a universal primary to be held to select candidates for any state office, U.S. representative or senator, or any county, municipal or district office. The bill requires all candidates to appear on a single ballot. The two candidates receiving the highest and next highest number of votes for that office would advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. The bill permits all qualified electors, regardless of party affiliation, to vote in the primary election. (O’Hara)

CS/SB 1490 (Bradley) and HB 1435 (Williamson) authorize specified reporting individuals or procurement employees as defined in the Code of Ethics (but not including any elected officer) to accept gifts or compensation to be used toward costs incurred due to serious bodily injury or disease of the individual or child of such person. The bills authorize any legislative or executive branch lobbyist or principal to make, and an employee of the legislative or executive branch to accept, expenditures for donations toward care and treatment of a serious bodily injury or illness of the employee or child of the employee. (O’Hara)

SB 768 (Perry) is linked to SB 766 (Perry). SB 768 establishes a statewide local government lobbyist registration fee. It provides the fee may not exceed $40 for each principal represented for one county and governmental entities therein or exceed $5 for each principal represented for each additional county and governmental entities therein. The bill prohibits a local government from charging a fee for the registration of lobbyists or principals, or for the enforcement of lobbyist regulation except as may be reasonable and necessary to cover the cost of such enforcement. Enforcement fees may be charged only if enforcement action is initiated and are limited to the direct and actual cost of the enforcement action. (O’Hara)

CS/SB 1372 (Brandes) makes technical, election administration changes recommended by the Florida State Supervisors of Elections Association for the 2020 general election cycle. In addition, the bill expressly preempts a local government from enacting or imposing any limitation on contributions to a political committee or electioneering communications organization, or limitations on any expenditures for an electioneering organization or an independent expenditure. (O’Hara)