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Legislative Status Report
January 31, 2020
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The Daytona Regional Chamber works closely with our Volusia delegation and others to relay the local business viewpoint on matters that come before State government. In an effort to keep you, our members, informed of the Session in Tallahassee, we present our Legislative Status Report. If you have any questions regarding its content, please contact
Jim Cameron
at 386.566.2140.
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FY 2020-21 Budget Details
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House Appropriations Committee is proposing a $91.3 billion budget while Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending a $92.8 billion budget.
One major difference is teacher-pay and it’ll probably be negotiated by the Senate President and House Speaker in the final weeks of the Session.
Senate Education budget leaders want $500 million for teacher salary
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increases…no money for bonus
programs plus additional $100 million to school districts to spend for veteran teachers and other employees. An additional $400 million would be used by each district to help them attain
Gov DeSantis’
$47,500 minimum pay salary.
Meanwhile, House Education budget leaders are proposing $650 million for teacher pay with no bonus program funds for teachers and principals.
The Governor’s proposal included $300 million for bonuses but neither House nor Senate plan mentions bonuses.
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Affordable Workforce Housing in Jeopardy...again!
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The House Appropriations Committee released a proposed budget which includes $147 million for affordable housing programs but sweeps $240 million into other areas of the budget.
House budget leaders are aware of housing needs but believed these funds were needed for increased health care costs, water quality projects and teacher pay
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B.E.S.T. Education Standards Announced
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Governor DeSantis
announced
Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking
(B.E.S.T. standards), as Florida's new K-12 standards.
The
new standards
would emphasize civics literacy in English and language classes and offer a more “back-to-basics” approach in the early grades to make sure students master key math and reading skills before middle school.
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The new standards will eliminate “crazy/confusing” math, by focusing on “math facts” i.e. multiplication tables and allow students to strategically solve math problems.
Click here
for more information.
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S 362
Florida Tourism Marketing
by
Sen
Hooper
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Extends the scheduled Visit Florida repeal date to October 1, 2028 (vs July 1, 2020). The five-year
appropriations
average to VISIT FLORIDA is $70.8 million.
Gov DeSantis
has suggested $50 million as a starting point for the FY 2020-21 budget.
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Similar House version
H 213
by
Rep Ponde
r i
s not moving.
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Vacation Rental Units H 1011
by
Rep Fisher
preempts regulation of vacation rental units to state Dept of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) and prohibits cities/counties from regulating or requiring inspections/licensing of vacation rentals;
H 1011
is on
the agenda
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The Chamber opposes S 1128 and H 1011. Cities and Counties should regulate Vacation Rental Units for fire, noise and make sure proper sales and bed taxes are collected. Most important, they should be properly zoned.
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Constitutional Amendments Citizen Initiatives -
H 7037
by
Judiciary Committee
– makes changes the means by which Florida’s Constitution may be amended by citizen initiative. The bill would -
- Revise a proposal's financial impact on state and local governments and the state budget.
- Increases from 10% (76,000 signatures) of the number petitions to 50% (383,000 valid petition signatures) in hand before the proposal referred to the Attorney General;
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Contingency Risk Multipliers
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PCB JDC 20-03
– Judiciary Committee
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prohibits a court from applying a contingency fee multiplier when calculating an attorney fee award unless an applicable statute expressly allows use of the multiplier. Fla courts will continue to calculate what is a reasonable attorney fee by using the lodestar approach, but will not enhance the lodestar amount with a contingency fee multiplier.
PCB JDC 20-03
was approved by the
Judiciary Committee
(
Rep Paul Renner
voted
YES)
. It has not been assigned a House bill number.
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Space Florida
H 717
by
Rep Sirois
removes the requirement that the Governor and Cabinet must approve Space Florida’s bond proposals, specifies that revenue bonds issued by Space Florida may not constitute an
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indebtedness of Space Florida and may not be secured by state appropriations, reduces the maximum length to maturity for bonds, and allows Space Florida to validate its bonds.
The Chamber supports H 717
.and
S 1070
by
Sen
Tom Wright
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Office of Resiliency -
H 1073
by Rep Stevenson -
establishes the Office of Resiliency within the Governor’s office to be headed by a Chief Resilience Officer. It creates the Statewide Sea-Level Rise Task Force which will recommend projections of the anticipated sea-level rise and flooding impacts along Florida’s coastline based on official scientific information.
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H 9
Damages
by
Rep Tom Leek
- in regards to personal injury tort cases, this bill modifies the damages recoverable in certain tort actions by requiring a jury to consider an estimated value of medical services based on an independent database reporting medical costs charged and paid.
This ensures the jury does not rely solely on the amount billed by the provider of medical or health care services to determine damages.
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A similar Senate version,
S 1668
Damages
by
Sen David Simmons
requires evidence of medical expenses in personal injury claims to be based on usual/customary charges
in the community where the expenses are incurred
. It forbids expenses that have been increased based on the outcome of litigation.
This may significantly alter the current methods for proving damages, which involves presenting medical bills as evidence of past expenses and testimony of reasonably certain needed procedures as evidence of future expenses.
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S 1668
requires evidence of medical expenses in personal injury claims to be based on the usual and customary charges in the community. This change may make awards of damages for medical costs more predictable.
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Communication Services Tax
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S 1174
by
Sen Travis Hutson
and
H 701
by
Rep Fischer
replaces the current patchwork structure and setting the maximum communications services tax for charter counties and municipalities at 5%, but reducing it to 4% in 2022. These bills could have an impact on the state economy with significant savings for consumers.
Click here
for more information on
S 1174 / H 701
.
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Chamber's 2020 Legislative Priorities
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Click
2020 Legislative Priorities
to see the Chamber's recommendations for the Session. Compiled by our Legislative Action Committee - Phil Maroney, Chair (Root Company), this list was presented to the Volusia delegation at their November 20 meeting.
Chamber 2020 Legislative Priorities Bill Tracker
These recommendations will be tracked throughout the session and reported each week in the Chamber's Legislative Status Report.
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Tallahassee Speaker Series
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Florida 2030
Blueprint to Secure Florida's Future
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With Florida being the third most populous state…by 2030, our population will total 26 million and 1.5 million more jobs will be needed. To help ensure that Florida and Volusia remain prosperous, the Daytona Regional Chamber is hosting
Florida 2030
– presented by the Florida Chamber Foundation. This program will identify
key trends and factors that will drive our local economy. Florida 2030 is an opportunity to help Volusia County prepare for its future
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Donna Wright
, of the
Florida Chamber Foundation
, will discuss the six pillars supporting Florida's future success, including job creation, infrastructure, business climate and quality of life.
Admission is $25 with advanced registration, $35 on the day of the event.
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Contact Your House and Senate Members
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Click here
to see Volusia's House/Senate contact information
as well as new committee assignment.
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Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce
126 E. Orange Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32114
386.255.0981 | info@daytonachamber.com
DaytonaChamber.com
Your Chamber of Influence
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