On Thursday, the House Civil Justice Subcommittee passed CS/HB 519 (Grant, J.) on a party line vote of 10-5. This bill significantly amends the Bert J. Harris Act and substantially handicaps local government ability to resolve these claims. The bill requires any settlement reached on a Harris claim that involves the issuance of a variance or exception to a regulation on a residential property be automatically applied by the government entity to all similarly situated residential properties that are subject to the same rules or regulations. Similarly situated is not defined in the bill. Therefore, the legislation will have a severe chilling effect on the settlement of Harris claims. Additionally, the bill limits the timeframe for government entities to respond to Harris claims from 150 days to 90 days, removes prevailing party standard from the attorney fees provision only allowing a property owner to recover fees if they prevail. The bill opens the door to allow a property owner to recover business damages which is strictly prohibited under current law. The League is OPPOSED to this legislation because we believe this bill is nothing more than a back-door handout to the multi-million-dollar commercial short-term rental industry, that will exponentially increase attorney fees and leave the taxpayers with the bill. Please thank Reps. Antone , Diamond , Mercado , Omphroy and Thompson for voting NO on CS/HB 519 .  (Cruz) 

SB 1128 (Diaz), the short-term rental bill, passed its first committee despite bipartisan opposition. While the bill passed the committee on an 8-2 vote, many members of the committee raised objections to what was in (and wasn’t in) the current bill. The bill preempts any regulations relating to vacation rentals that have been adopted since 2014 and also appears to undo any licensing or inspection programs adopted prior to 2011 in “grandfathered” cities. 

A special thank you goes out to those who were in the room to register their opposition to the bill and the many city officials who emailed and called the senators on the committee prior to the hearing.  The House version, HB 1011 (Fischer), will be heard in its first committee, the House Workforce Development and Tourism Subcommittee , on Tuesday, January 21. Please contact the members of this subcommittee and express your opposition to HB 1011 ( Here is a link to the issue brief and talking points for this bill .) The FLC OPPOSES this bill. (Cook)  

On Wednesday, The House Business and Professions Subcommittee passed CS/HB 3 (Grant, M.). The bill picks up where it left off last session by expressly preempting the licensing of occupations to the state. The bill defines occupation to include a paid job, work, trade, employment or profession and defines licensing to include any training, education, test, certification, registration, procedure or license that are required for a person to perform an occupation. The bill provides limited exceptions for specified local licenses and any local government licensing of occupations that was expressly authorized by general law. The bill will prohibit a local government from requiring a person to obtain a license for a job scope that does not substantially correspond to the job scope of certain contractor categories set forth in Chapter 489, Florida Statutes. The FLC OPPOSES this bill. (Cruz)  

CS/SB 998 (Hutson) dealing with zoning, affordable housing, and impact fees issues passed out of its first committee of reference, the Senate Community Affairs Committee. Although the bill sponsor made several changes in favor of municipalities, FLC is still working with the sponsor to address other concerns relating to the placement of accessory dwelling units in single-family residential areas and a provision that permits a mobile home park damaged or destroyed by wind, water, or other natural force to be rebuilt on the same site with the same density as was approved, permitted, or built before being damaged or destroyed. In its current form, FLC OPPOSES this bill. (Branch) 

Continuing a recurring trend, a comprehensive bill, CS/HB 637 (DeCeglie), dealing with impact fees was taken up and passed out of the House Local and Federal Affairs Subcommittee. The bill requires impact fees to be based on a formula that accounts for recent and localized data collected within the last 36 months and excludes any cost that does not meet the definition of "infrastructure." The bill requires additional financial reporting for the collection of impact fees and the creation of an impact fee trust fund. Under this bill, local governments would be prohibited from requiring the collection of an impact fee earlier than the date the building permit is issued. The bill allows impact fee credits to be transferred from one development to another within the same impact fee jurisdiction for the same type of facility. Requires that each municipality establish, and impact fee review committee composed of two members of the local government, two members of the business community, two local contractors and one at large member. The League OPPOSES this bill. (Cruz)

CS/SB 504 (Perry) requires local governments issuing bidding documents or other requests for proposal to disclose all fees affecting the project put out for bid was passed by the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee. The bill also specifies the manner in which the estimated cost of a public building construction project must be determined when a local government governing board is deciding whether it is in the local government’s best interest to perform the project using its own services, employees, and equipment. Specifically, the bill requires the estimated cost of the project to be determined using generally accepted cost-accounting principles that fully account for all costs associated with performing and completing the work, including employee compensation and benefits, equipment costs and maintenance, insurance costs, and the cost of materials. The bill was amended in committee and removed the language prohibiting a local government from performing the project using its own services, employees, and equipment if the project requires an increase in the number of government employees or an increase in such capital expenditures. The FLC OPPOSES this bill. (Branch)  

Both the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee and the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee unanimously approved two bills that would create the Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Equipment Grant Program within the Division of State Fire Marshal of the Department of Financial Services. CS/HB 487 (Fetterhoff) and SB 1092 (Bean) would create this program to provide financial assistance to qualifying fire departments to help procure equipment, supplies, and educational training material designed to mitigate exposure to hazardous, cancer-causing chemicals. Currently, these bills do not fund the grant program. The League of Cities SUPPORTS these bills. (Hughes)  

CS/HB 459 (Overdorf) passed out of the House Business & Professions Subcommittee on Wednesday. The bill prohibits municipalities adopting zoning and development regulations that require specific building design elements for single- and two- family dwellings unless certain conditions are met. This legislation would significantly affect municipalities ability to preserve the character of traditional neighborhoods. The FLC OPPOSES this bill. (Branch) 

Multiple bills have been filed addressing a variety of ethics issues. Notable among them are a handful of bills establishing new mandates, preemptions and training requirements on local governments.  HB 1113 (Beltran) and SB 1270 (Lee) establish standards for the fiduciary duty of care additional standards of care for appointed members of local boards that have power to enforce codes as well as planning, zoning, adjustment, appeals and community redevelopment. It requires these individuals to obtain five hours of training per term on a wide variety of matters relating to board governance, fiduciary duties and professional responsibilities. The bills also require all legal counsel employed by a governmental entity to represent the interests of the governing body and not the interest of any individual or employee of the governmental entity. Both bills are awaiting their first committee hearing. (O’Hara)

SB 1538 (Gruters) and HB 1111 (Tomkow) create the Florida Integrity Office and Florida Integrity Officer and authorize the investigation or audit of any local government, local authority, local council or commission. They authorize the state Auditor General to report on activities by public officials or agencies to the Integrity Officer. The bills impose personal liability for repayment of funds upon persons who are determined responsible for fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement or misconduct in government. Both bills are awaiting their first committee hearing.  (O’Hara)

SB 766 (Perry) and HB 611 (Sabatini) mandate lobbyist registration requirements on all local governments and their agencies and preempt lobbyist registration to the state. The bills limit lobbyist registration and reporting fees by local governments that have adopted such local requirements, effectively establishing a state “ceiling” on minimum lobbyist registration and reporting. The bills also require notice all local government meetings except for emergency meetings to be posted seven days’ in advance, along with an agenda. Both bills are awaiting their first committee hearing. (O’Hara)

A series of bills have been filed to address Florida’s ongoing water quality woes. CS/SB 712 (Mayfield) and HB 1343 (Payne) impose new planning and reporting requirements on the Department of Environmental Protection, wastewater utilities, and local governments with septic tanks that contribute to nutrient impairment. The bills establish a matching grant program in DEP to assist with water quality projects necessary to meet the new requirements and require a $2,000 penalty for wastewater utilities that fail to take appropriate steps to reduce sanitary sewer overflows and leaks. CS/SB 712 is ready for consideration in its second committee, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government, and HB 1343 is awaiting action by its first committee of reference, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee. HB 1091 (Fine) and SB 1450 (Gruters) would provide an across-the-board, 50% increase in penalties for violating a multitude of state environmental laws. Both bills await their first committee hearing.   (O’Hara)

HB 715 (Maggard) and SB 1656 (Albritton) establish a regulatory framework for the state and Florida’s water utilities to treat reclaimed water for use as drinking water (potable reuse). Based loosely on the recommendations of the Florida Potable Reuse Commission, the bills turn up the heat on utilities to speed implementation by prohibiting surface water discharges from the utilities by 2026. While the bills provide for a few exceptions from this prohibition, utilities will likely face a multi-billion-dollar price tag to comply. Both bills await their first committee hearing. The League OPPOSES these bills. (O’Hara)

SB 7024 (Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee) was introduced and passed unanimously by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. The bill allocates $10 million of Florida Forever funding each year for acquiring lands and conservation easements in Florida under specified conditions for areas impacted by a hurricane within the five years prior to the fiscal year for which the acquisition funding is appropriated. The bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to consult with other specified agencies for Florida Forever projects related to conservation lands and coastal areas subject to sea-level rise. Finally, the bill requires that the connection of wildlife habitat with a wildlife crossing be included in the benefits that land acquisition under the Florida Forever program is planned to provide. (O’Hara)

SB 7016 (Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee) which establishes the Statewide Office of Resiliency within the Executive Office of the Governor unanimously passed its second committee of reference, the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, this week. The bill also creates the Statewide Sea-Level Rise Task Force, adjunct to the Statewide Office of Resiliency, to recommend consensus projections of the anticipated sea-level rise and flooding impacts along Florida’s coastline. The FLC SUPPORTS this bill. (O’Hara) 

SB 1192 (Gruters) passed the Commerce and Tourism Committee this week. The bill would repeal the aviation fuel tax that helps provide funding to the State Transportation Trust Fund for programs such as the Aviation Grant Program. Local governments apply for this grant to help fund capital projects on airport property and services that lead to capital projects, such as planning and design services. The FLC OPPOSES this bill. (Branch)  

The Senate Government Oversight and Accountability passed CS/SB 620 (Hooper) which revises the current Florida Firefighters’ Bill of Rights statutes to require that the entire “Bill of Rights” process be followed during the informal inquiry process. The League is OPPOSED to this bill as the informal inquiry process is an important part of determining whether a formal investigation should be commenced or not and will waste time and tax dollars by requiring investigations to be conducted when they may not be required. The House companion, HB 215 (Casello), has not been heard in its first committee of reference.  (Hughes)

SB 630, sponsored by former FLC Defender of Home Rule Senator Debbie Mayfield, passed its first committee of reference this week on a unanimous vote. The bill amends current law to allow cities to regulate smoking in municipally-owned public parks. The bill now heads to the Senate Innovation, Industry, and Technology Committee. The FLC SUPPORTS this bill. (Cook)

HB 7 (Fine), a bill relating to public notice requirements, passed the House Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Wednesday. The bill allows cities the option to publish legally required advertisements and notices on a publicly accessible website if online publication would result in a cost savings for the government. The FLC SUPPORTS this bill. (Cook)

The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met this week to estimate the state general revenue that will be used for the state to build their budget. The anticipated revenues were revised upwards slightly by $306 million for this current fiscal year and $86 million for next fiscal year. While this is positive, the state’s revenue collections for general revenue are still expected to fall below the prior year by 0.5% this year and the REC recognized that there is an elevated level of risk to any forecast due to the mature stage of the current economic expansion and geopolitical pressures to global growth. (Hughes)