Legislative Status Report February 14, 2020

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.

FY 2020-21 Budget Details

In his State of the State address, Governor DeSantis outlined his FY 2020-21 budget priorities .

House Appropriations Committee is proposing a $91.4 billion budget while Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending a $92.8 billion budget. Click here for more information. Click S 2500 for Senate version Click H 5001 for House version

Workforce Housing

Affordable Housing (Sadowski Housing Trust Fund) – t he House is offering $147 million for housing while sweeping $240 million for other needs in the budget. The Senate's would spend the full $387 million on housing (Gov DeSantis recommends the same). Once these budgets are approved by the House and Senate, Conference Committees begin negotiations to find a suitable amount. The Chamber feels housing is an important small business issue because an estimated 46% of

Volusia citizens spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing . Prediction - $250 to $280 million after budget negotiations.

Visit Florida / Enterprise/Tourism

S 362 Florida Tourism Marketing by Sen  Hooper  - e xtends the scheduled Visit Florida repeal date to October 1, 2028 (vs July 1, 2020). It was approved by the Senate ( Sens Travis Hutson, David Simmons, Tom Wright voted YES ). It now moves over to the House. The Senate has allotted $52.2 million in their budget while the has NO funds and wants the agency to sunset July 1. Gov DeSantis recommended $50 million as a starting point for VISIT FLORIDA for next year.

Enterprise Florida – the Senate’s proposal allocates $20 million for Florida’s Growth Job Fund. The House allocates no funds for Enterprise. Gov DeSantis recommended $50 million. The Chamber supports maintaining Visit Florida and adequately funding tourism marketing…and we also support Enterprise Florida to the same degree!

Tourism Bed Tax Dollars at Risk? The proposed House budget would allow counties the authority to utilize bed taxes on “water quality improvement projects” including -- septice to sewer conversions, efforts to combat toxic algae, flood-control projects related to rising sea levels. While the Chamber supports these water quality projects, this is the wrong source of funds. The Chamber believes bed tax dollars should be used for what they were originally designed for….tourism advertising. Wait? Is this the same House budget that seeks to eliminate Visit Florida and its tourism marketing fund?

Vacation Rental Units S 1128 by Sen Diaz 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. Click here for more information.

Tax Issues

Internet Sales Tax S 126 by Sen Gruters revises definition of “retail sale”; renaming the term “mail order sale” to “remote sale” and revises definition; revises conditions under which certain dealers are subject to sales tax levies and collection; provides that certain marketplace providers are subject to registration, collection, and remittance   requirements for sales taxes, etc.

It passed Finance and Tax Committee and now goes to the Appropriations  Committee (Sens Travis Hutson, David Simmons - members ). A similar House version H 159 by Rep Clemons is not moving. The Chamber supports both bills. It's a fairness issue to balance the playing field between nationwide online retailers and our local small businesses. It NOT a NEW tax! It's enforcing a sales tax that already on the books....for years!

Tax Packages - the Senate Finance & Tax Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee are finalizing comprehensive tax plans to confirm to the FY 2020-21 budget. The Senate Finance and Tax Committee approved bills for an 18-day “disaster preparedness” sales-tax holiday and a 10-day back-to-school sales-tax holiday. Click here for more information.

Environmental Issues

Clean Waterways Act - S 712 by Sen Mayfield – would impose new regulations on polluters as it seeks to limit excess nutrients from flowing into waterways. It also enacts recommendations from a blue-green algae task force established from last year’s Session. It looks to give the Dept of Environmental Protection more leeway to reduce pollutants flowing into waterways and it should work in unison with the additional funding the House and Senate are negotiating in the final budget. Click here for more information.

Economic Development/Brownfields

H 1001 Brownfields by Rep Stone specifies how a developer may claim the sales tax exemption for building materials used to construct affordable housing in a designated brownfield area. H 1001 was approved by the Ways & Means Committee (Rep David Santiago voted YES). Next stop State Affairs Committee.

Senate version S 1350 by Sen Baxley goes before the Environment and Natural Resources  Committee on Monday ( Sen Tom Wright - member). The Chamber supports H 1001 as a means to construct affordable housing.

Employment Issues

Verification of Employment Eligibility   S 664  by  Sens Lee, Gruters would require E-Verify be used for governmental employees and employees of contractors.  Judiciary Committee Chair Sen David Simmons  filed an amendment  to exclude farmers/ agricultural employers that hire seasonal migrant workers. It would also stipulate that contractors/subcontractors must have 10 + employees to be required to use E-Verify and it would only apply to public contracts exceeding $65,000.

With Simmons' amendment , it   was approved by the  Judiciary Committee (Sens Travis Hutson, David Simmons voted YES). It now goes to the Commerce & Tourism  Committee on Tuesday (Sens Travis Hutson, Tom Wright - members).

House version H 1265 Rep Byrd  is before the  Commerce Committee   ( Rep David Santiago  – member). Not moving…. Gov DeSantis  wants to make E-Verify a mandate for all workers in the state.

Drug Free Workplace - H 1297 by Rep Robinson - updates drugs which drugs would be included under the drug-free workplace act. However, there is an issue of medical cannabis in Florida constitution allowing it while the federal government still listed as an illegal drug was the subject.  Click here for more information.

On the Chamber's Radar Screen......

Key House/Senate bills moving towards passage 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.  Click here for more information.

Constitutional Amendments Proposed by Initiative    CS/SB 1794 by Sen Travis Hutson modifies the citizen initiative process for amending the State Constitution by: Narrowing the role of the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC) to estimating the proposal's financial impact on state and local governments and the state budget (removing impacts to the local governments and economies).  It passed Judiciary Committee ( Sens David Simmons, Travis Hutson voted YES ). A similar House version H 7037 by Rep Grant passed the State Affairs Committee and now en route to a House floor vote. Space Florida H 1070 by Sen Tom Wright relates to bonding authority of Space Florida. It passed Transportation, Tourism, Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee  (Sen Hutson voted YES). Next stop - Appropriations Committee. Click here for more information.

Chamber's 2020 Legislative Priorities

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.   Click here to see 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.

Click here to see subject index for legislation .

Contact Your House and Senate Members

Click here   to see Volusia's House/Senate contact information as well as new committee assignment. Click here to see  Florida House members   and  Florida Senate members

Eggs & Issues Breakfast

Price is $17 for Chamber members with advance registration, $22 day of event, and $35 for non-members. Click here for Xpress RSVP..no waiting. Call Jim Cameron 566-2140 if you have any questions.

Election Information

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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