The League will continue the regular weekly Monday Morning Call-Ins at 9:00 a.m. ET through April 26. The call-in number is 888.585.9008, and the conference room number is 301-563-714#. The next call is Monday, April 19.

The Florida League of Cities’ Legislative Policy Committee sign up for 2021-2022 is now underway. The FLC Legislative Policy Committees set the legislative agenda for the League and Florida’s 411 municipalities.

If you would like to serve on a policy committee, be sure to sign up by May 7 (members can serve on only one committee at a time). If you served on a policy committee this past year, you still need to sign up again for our 2021-2022 committees. 

Join the FLC Advocacy Team for a post-session update on the League's priority issues on May 6 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Registration is now open for our 2021 Post-Legislative Session Webinar. Click here to register online.

On Wednesday, CS/CS/SB 266 (Perry) was heard in the Senate Rules Committee and passed on a vote of 12-2. The bill was amended to address many of the concerns raised by the League. The amended bill allows cities to address many potential negative impacts of home-based businesses. The League worked with various stakeholders and supported this amendment. CS/HB 403 (Giallombardo), the House companion, is expected to be heard on the House floor on Tuesday. CS/HB 403 is very different from the Senate bill and completely preempts a city’s ability to regulate a home-based business. (Cruz)

On Thursday, CS/HB 1 (Fernandez-Barquin) passed the Senate floor on a vote of 23-17 and is now headed to the governor. Of concern to cities, the bill includes provisions that make it difficult to reduce municipal law enforcement funding by allowing a state attorney or a member of the local governing body to appeal a reduction in the law enforcement operating budget to the Administration Commission. The bill also creates civil liability for damages caused during a riot if the government is deemed to have breached the duty to respond appropriately. The bill waives sovereign immunity for any governing body found liable, which means cities would not be protected by statutory caps that normally limit the amount someone can recover when suing a government entity. Amendments were filed by Senators Gary Farmer, Jr. and Shevrin Jones that would have alleviated the Leagues concerns, but those amendments failed. (Hughes)

CS/HB 219 (Fischer) remains stalled in the House Ways and Means Committee as we head into the final week of committee meetings. If the bill does get a hearing in Ways and Means, it would still have one last stop in the House Commerce Committee. CS/HB 219 would undo any local registration, inspection or licensing requirements specific to short-term rentals adopted since 2011. We will keep you updated if there is any movement on the bill.

The Senate companion, CS/CS/SB 522 (Diaz), was on the agenda but not considered by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday. The bill remains on the agenda for next week and could be heard in Senate Rules on Tuesday. Currently, the bill protects existing vacation rental regulations but preempts cities from specifically regulating advertising platforms. There is a pending amendment to CS/CS/SB 522 that we need your feedback on; please review the amendment and send any comments to Tara Taggart and Casey Cook. (Taggart) (Cook)

On Wednesday, CS/SB 64 (Albritton) was amended, substituted for CS/HB 263 (Maggard) and passed by the House 118-0. As amended, CS/SB 64 requires wastewater utilities to develop plans by November 2021 for eliminating “nonbeneficial” surface water discharge within 10 years. The bill is now awaiting

a final vote in the Senate. (O’Hara)

CS/SB 102 (Burgess) and CS/HB 1053 (Overdorf) authorize the attorney general to take over or abate local government civil actions that involve multiple local government plaintiffs on “matters of great governmental concern.” The bills are retroactive and could adversely affect existing legal actions relating to opioids and PFAS chemicals. On Thursday, CS/SB 102 was temporarily postponed by the Senate Appropriations Committee until the committee meets again on Monday. CS/HB 1053 could be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday. (O’Hara) 

This week, CS/CS/SB 750 (Gruters) and CS/CS/CS/HB 337 (DiCeglie) passed through their respective committees. The bills restrict what are allowable expenditures of impact fee revenue and cap how much impact fees can be raised on a yearly basis. Impact fees are collected by local governments to fund local infrastructure to meet the demands of population growth. The bills were amended to address some of the concerns of local government. CS/CS/CS/HB 337 is expected to be heard on the House floor on Tuesday. (Cruz)

CS/CS/HB 421 (Tuck) passed its final committee of reference on a vote of 14-5. The bill amends current law to provide procedures and remedies to landowners whose property is inordinately burdened by a local government regulation. The bill is expected to be heard on the House floor on Tuesday.

The Senate companion CS/SB 1876 (Albritton) is expected to be heard in the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday. The bill revises the term “action of a governmental entity” to include adopting any ordinance. Current law would require a government entity to enforce an ordinance in order to be able to file a Bert Harris claim. As a result, more property owners can file a claim that would otherwise not be ripe for litigation. (Cruz)

On Friday, the Ways and Means Committee introduced the House Tax Package, PCB WMC 21-01, which provides for several sales tax holidays and other tax-related modifications. Of note, the bill increases a property tax discount from 50% to 100% for certain multifamily projects that provide affordable housing to low-income families. The bill also allows that the tourist development and convention development taxes can be used for flood mitigation projects at the discretion of local government. The total state and local government negative impact of the bill in fiscal year 2021-22 is $100.1 million, with a recurring negative impact of $50 million. (Hughes)

HB 7047 (Leek) and CS/CS/SB 2006 (Burgess) are bills to better address the threat posed by pandemics or other public health emergencies. The final committee stop for HB 7047 is the Health and Human Services Committee which is set to meet on Monday. We will know by Sunday at 4:30 p.m. if this bill is noticed on the committee agenda. The Senate companion, CS/CS/SB 2006 is expected to be heard on the Senate floor on Wednesday. (Dudley)