BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 766 (Perry) and HB 611 (Sabatini) impose mandatory lobbyist registration requirements on all governmental entities as defined in the bill, including all municipalities and counties. The bills also amend statutory meeting notice requirements for cities and counties.

The bills require the Florida Commission on Ethics to create the Local Government Lobbyist Registration System, and beginning October 2020, any local government lobbyist registration ordinance or requirement is preempted by the state system. The bills define lobbying, provide exceptions and specify activities that do not constitute lobbying.

A person may not lobby a government entity (which includes any municipality or county) until the person has electronically registered as a lobbyist with the commission. The bills appear to prohibit separate registration fees for each municipality in a county, as they authorize separate registration submissions for each county and prohibits additional fees for governmental entities within each county. The bills specify information to be included in the lobbyist registration. Registration is renewable annually and must include authorization from each principal identified. HB 611 directs the Commission on Ethics to set the annual lobbying registration fee by rule but provides the fee shall not exceed $20 for each principal represented within a county and governmental entities therein and that it may not exceed $5 for each additional principal represented. Registration fee limits and penalty amounts are addressed in a separate Senate bill, SB 768 (Perry).
 

The bills require the commission to publish lobbyist registration information on the internet. It requires a governmental entity to make reasonable efforts to ascertain whether a person who lobbies that entity is registered with the commission. Upon discovery of a violation of requirements of these provisions, the bill authorizes a person or governmental entity to file a complaint with the commission. If probable cause is found, a person may be subject to reprimand, censure, assessment of a civil penalty not to exceed $500 per violation or suspension from lobbying for a specified period. HB 611 authorizes governmental entities to impose additional civil penalties not to exceed $500 per violation or a suspension from lobbying the entity for up to two years.

The bills prohibit a governmental entity from requiring classes, certifications or additional requirements as a requisite for lobbyist registration. They authorize a governmental entity to require lobbyist compensation reporting and disclosure of lobbyist contacts with government officials and authorizes restrictions on the exchange of money or things of value between lobbyists and government officials.
 

By January 2021, a governmental entity shall notify the commission of any local requirement that imposes additional or more stringent obligations with respect to lobbyist compensation reporting or other lobbying activities and provide this information and any associated forms to the commission. By January 2022, each governmental entity shall conform its lobbyist regulation system, if any, to the commission’s system to eliminate duplicative requirements. The bill authorizes the commission to adopt rules to implement its provisions.

Lastly, the bills amend statutory meeting notice requirements for municipalities and counties. Except in the case of emergency meetings, the governing body of a municipality or governing board of a county must provide notice of any meeting of the body or board at least seven days in advance by posting a notice on body or board’s website. The meeting notice must include a statement of the general subject matter to be considered by the body or board. (O’Hara)

SB 264 (Farmer) – Strategic Fuel Reserve 

SB 402 (Harrell) and HB 767 (Grant, M.) – Assisted Living Facilities

SB 1272 (Montford) – Statewide Emergency Shelter Task Force

SB 752 (Bean) and HB 705 (Killebrew) – Emergency Sheltering of Persons with Pets

CS/CS/SB 538 (Diaz) and CS/CS/HB 865 (Rodriguez, Anthony) require a municipality or county to report certain emergency incidents to the State Watch Office within the Division of Emergency Management as soon as practicable following the initial response of the local government. The DEM will be required to notify county and municipal emergency mangers, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate when the list of reportable incidents is amended by the division director. CS/CS/SB 538 passed the Senate (39-0) and is on the way to the House. (Branch)

SB 272 (Rodriguez) creates an exception to a state preemption preventing local governments from regulating hoisting equipment at local worksites. This preemption would not apply as it relates to precautions specific to hurricane preparedness. (Branch)

CS/SB 502 (Montford) creates the Hurricane Michael Recovery Task Force under the Division of Emergency Management. The purpose of the task force is to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding additional assistance needed from the effects of Hurricane Michael. (Branch)

HB 71 (Santiago) and SB 130 (Hutson) – Florida Job Growth Grant Fund

HB 6057 (Avila) and HB 1369 (Pigman) repeal provisions relating to state funding for constructing, reconstructing, renovating or improving facilities primarily used for sporting events. HB 6057 repeals the Sports Development program in current law that provides an avenue for sports facilities to apply for a distribution from the state to fund the construction of or improvements to a professional sports franchise facility. Since the program was enacted in 2014, no application has been approved by the Legislature. The bills also make conforming changes to other statutes, related to Sports Development program distributions and reporting requirements. (Cook)

HB 1429 (Omphroy) and SB 1612 (Powell) deal with Opportunity Zones. The bills create a process whereby cities could apply to the Department of Economic Opportunity for approval for the designated Opportunity Zones to receive state incentives. The bills require local governments to provide specific information relating to the designated Opportunity Zones to be eligible for state incentives. (Cook)

SB 362 (Hooper) and HB 213 (Ponder) revise the scheduled repeal of Visit Florida from July 1, 2020, to October 1, 2028. SB 362 passed the House (36-0) and is on the way to the Senate. (Cook)

HB 779 (Roach) and CS/CS/SB 922 (Gruters) amend current law to extend special economic development to qualified businesses located in a county affected by Hurricane Michael. The bills authorize the Department of Economic Opportunity to waive certain wage or financial support eligibility requirements for certain businesses expanding its existing operations or relocating to a county affected by Hurricane Michael and increases the maximum tax refund payment from $6,000 to $10,000 multiplied per job specified in the tax refund agreement. (Cook)

CS/SB 426 (Montford) and CS/CS/HB 1139 (Clemons) revise how the Regional Rural Development Grants Program and the Rural Infrastructure Fund operates. Specifically, the bills:

•require grant recipients to serve or be located within a rural area of opportunity. 

•authorize organizations that serve an entire rural area of opportunity to receive grants of up to $50,000 annually. 

•increase the maximum amount of funds the Department of Economic Opportunity may expend for the program from $750,000 to $1 million annually. 

•reduce the percentage of grant funds that must be matched with non-state funds from 100 percent to 30 percent of the state’s contribution. 

•specify that regional economic development organizations may use grant funds to build their professional capacity and provide technical assistance. 

•add as eligible use of funds: upgrades to or development of public tourism infrastructure and improvements to broadband internet service access in unserved or underserved rural communities.

•require projects that improve service and access to be through a partnership that was publicly noticed and competitively bid.

•establish certain contract and public notice requirements. (Cook)

CS/CS/HB 1139 was amended to remove the provision that increased the amount DEO may expend on Regional Rural Development Grants from $750,000 to $1 million. The bill also reduces the percentage of grant funds that must be matched with nonstate funds from 100 percent to 25 percent of the state’s contribution. CS/SB 426 still includes this provision. CS/SB 426 passed the Senate (40-0) and is on the way to the House. (Cook)

SB 732 (Gruters) and HB 511 (Fine) – Insulation Products

SB 1380 (Albritton) HB 1441 (Maggard) – Construction Contracts

SB 1666 (Albritton) and HB 619 (Overdorf) authorize that electronic billboards may be placed on lands designated as agricultural lands if:

•the parcel can accommodate the billboard. 

•there are sufficient utilities to support the operation. 

• local government zoning ordinances allow the placement. (Branch)

CS/SB 1594 (Powell) and HB 1263 (Watson, C.) prohibit individuals from influencing fire-safety inspectors by threatening, coercing, or attempting to interfere with an inspection. The bills also provide criminal penalties for these violations. (Branch)

SB 710 (Albritton) establishes new requirements to the Florida Building Code that the entire envelope of multistory residential buildings, certain new coastal construction, new residential construction in a high-velocity hurricane zone and hurricane shelters be constructed with high wind-resistant construction materials. The bill requires that all parts or systems of a building or structure envelope meet impact test criteria. (Branch)

HB 85 (Casello) requires the Florida Building Commission to incorporate into the Florida Building Code specified requirements relating to the installation of “diesel exhaust capture systems” in fire stations. (Branch/Hughes)

CS/CS/SB 504 (Perry) and CS/CS/HB 279 (Smith, D.) require a local government, in deciding whether it is in the public’s best interest for the local government to perform a public building construction project using its own services, to fully account for all costs associated with performing and completing the work, including the cost of direct materials to be used in the construction. The bills clarify that a local government shall list all other governmental entities that may have additional permits or fees generated by the project when issuing a bidding document. (Branch)

CS/CS/HB 1029 (Rodriguez, Anthony) includes language that would allow charter school the ability to expand under their preexisting zoning without obtaining a special exception or rezoning. The bill requires a local government, if requested by a charter school, to provide within 14 days a written justification for any challenged requirements. The bill would also award attorneys fees and court costs to charter schools only if they prevailed. (Branch)

SB 954 (Perry) and CS/CS/HB 459 (Overdorf) 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 provide a limited exemption from the preemption by allowing allow local governments to adopt and enforce regulations that require “building design elements” for single- and two-family dwellings only if they are listed on the Historical Preservation Registry, housed within a Community Redevelopment Agency or if regulations are adopted in order to implement the National Flood Insurance Program.

The bills also allow a substantially affected person to petition the Florida Building Commission to review a local government regulation to determine if the regulation is actually an unauthorized amendment to the Building Code. (Branch)

CS/CS/SB 474 (Albritton) deals with the deregulation of certain professions and occupations. The bill preempts the regulation of mobile food dispensing vehicles (food trucks) to the state and prohibits local governments from prohibiting the operation of food trucks. Additionally, the bill also deletes the authority of the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Association of Counties to recommend a list of candidates for consideration to the Florida Building Commission. (Branch)