Welcome to Special Session 2023C 

The Legislature convened this week for a Special Session to consider measures related to Hurricane Idalia relief, school voucher programs, and support for Israel and the Jewish community. The House and Senate’s Joint Proclamation can be read here.  

Meanwhile, the Legislature held their fourth week of interim committee meetings in a series of seven before start of the regular session on January 9, 2024. The remaining interim committee schedule is as follows: 

• November 13-17, 2023 
• December 4-7, 2023 
• December 11-15, 2023 

Reminder! One Week Until FAC’s Legislative Conference! 

FAC will conclude its 2023-2024 Policy Development Process at the upcoming Legislative Conference next week in Hillsborough County, November 15-17. Policy committees will discuss policy proposals, hear presentations from subject matter experts, and ultimately finalize and adopt FAC’s 2024 Legislative Action Plan. If you have not registered yet, please do so here! We look forward to seeing you in Hillsborough County! 

Jeff Scala, Senior Associate Director of Public Policy at the Florida Association of Counties, gives brief update of what happened this week at the Capitol.

CS/HB 1C - Disaster Relief by Rep. Shoaf (SB 2C by Sen. Simon) passed unanimously in both chambers this week.  The bill continues recovery efforts following Hurricane Idalia, including a number of appropriations related to hurricane response and resilience: 



• $30 million to the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) to cover the local matching requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance grants to local governments in the Hurricane Idalia Disaster Declaration.  

[Graphic 1: Counties for which the State will pick up entire FEMA Match] 

• $50 million to DEM for the Hurricane Recovery Grant Program. This program provides funding for repair and recovery projects in local governments covered by the Hurricane Idalia Disaster Declaration. 
• An additional $3 million to DEM to provide planning and design grants for new emergency operations centers in fiscally constrained counties. 
• $10 million to the Small County Outreach Program, for transportation projects within the Hurricane Idalia Disaster Declaration. 
• $181.5 million to the Department of Financial Services for the My Safe Florida Home Program, which provides home inspections and hurricane-hardening residential improvements.  
• $25 million to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation for the Hurricane Housing Recovery Program. 
• $5 million to the Department of Commerce to provide Rural Infrastructure Fund Grants to fiscally constrained counties impacted by Hurricane Idalia. 
• $75 million for low- or zero-interest loans to eligible agriculture and aquaculture operations. 
• $37.5 million in grants for timber operations impacted by Hurricane Idalia. 

The bill’s tax relief provisions include: 



• Requiring that tangible personal property in a farming operation, that was rendered unusable for at least 60 days by Hurricane Idalia, be assessed at its salvage value for the 2024 tax rolls; 
• Providing for sales tax refunds for fencing and building materials associated with Hurricane Idalia recovery efforts on agricultural property; and 
• Providing for a fuel tax refund for shipments and debris removal related to Hurricane Idalia recovery. 

The bill also amends Chapter 2023-304 (SB 250 of 2023, henceforth referred to as the Act), relating to natural emergencies from the 2023 Regular Session. Following Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, Section 14 of the Act prohibited a county (or any municipality therein) within 100 miles of landfall of either hurricane from proposing or adopting a moratorium on construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of property damaged by either hurricane; and prohibited the adoption stricter or burdensome land use regulations, comprehensive plan amendments, or development review procedures until October 1, 2024.  

CS/HB 1C specifically amends the Act to remove the 100-mile threshold, the reference to Hurricane Nicole, and to designate Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota as the counties subject to such moratorium and development-related prohibitions.  The bill also extends the prohibitions through October 1, 2026. Any designated county that adopted any of the prohibited action on or after September 28, 2022 is null and void ab initio. The practical effect of the amendment is to exclude a significant number of counties that were previously subject to the Act’s restrictions, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Indian River, Okeechobee, Osceola, St. Lucie, Brevard, Volusia, Seminole, Orange, and Lake Counties.   

Finally, the bill extends the maximum loan term within the Local Government Emergency Revolving Bridge Loan program from two to five years. 

FAC supported the measure in committee, highlighting the significant local funding infusion to assist local governments and county residents in recovering from Hurricane Idalia.  

Video; Meeting Packet 

HB 5C - Scrutinized Companies by Rep. Snyder (SB 10C by Sen. Avila) passed both chambers this week. The bill requires that the State Board of Administration maintain a list of “Scrutinized Companies with Activities in the Iran Terrorism Sector” (Iran Terrorism List).  

Companies on the Iran terrorism list are prohibited from contracting with local governments on projects or services valued at $1 million dollars or greater. Companies submitting a bid for a local government or state agency contract must certify that they do not meet the criteria for placement on the Iran Terrorism List. Contracts entered into after July 1, 2018, must include a provision allowing the awarding local government to terminate the contract of a company that either:  

1. Submits a false certification regarding business activity with Iran; or 
2. Is designated as a scrutinized company on the Iran Terrorism List. 

A local government may, at its limited discretion, allow a company on the Iran Terrorism List to compete for local contracts in the event of certain exceptions including: 

• If the scrutinized business operations were conducted before January 10, 2024, and not renewed; the company must also implement a formal plan to cease their remaining scrutinized business operations. 
• If the local government would otherwise be unable to obtain these services from an alternative source. 

Additionally, the bill requires the SBA, in its administration of the Florida Retirement System Investment Plan, to divest from any scrutinized company on the Iran Terrorism List. 

The presentation can be accessed below: 

Video; Meeting Packet 

On Tuesday, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) presented an update on the 2023 Live Local Act to the Senate Community Affairs Committee. The presentation centered around implementation of several Live Local Act programs, many in their inaugural year. 

This included the Florida Hometown Heroes, Live Local Program Tax Credit Contribution, Multifamily Middle Market Certification, and additional innovation and transformational Live Local SAIL Funding Opportunities.  

• Hometown Heroes Program 
• For fiscal year 2023-2024, $100 million was appropriated. Opportunity to reserve funds opened on July 3, 2023. In 50 days, all $100 Million was fully reserved. This money helped assist over 6,400 Families.  
• The board of directors allocated another $36 million to the program for the fiscal year 2023-2024, and the reservations opened on November 4, 2023 
• Live Local Program Tax Credit Contribution  
• Currently, the Tax credit program has over $52 million in reservations. Taxpayers are eligible to make those contributions closer to filing deadlines. 
• $25 million of this will be utilized for housing transformations.  
• Multifamily Middle Market Certification Process 
•  As of November 7, 2023, 57 registrants are in the certification portal.  
• Additional SAIL – Innovation Multifamily Housing Development  
• An initial Request for Applications of $100 Million out of the $150 Million will be issued next week to be used for  
• Mixed use  
• Urban Infill 
• Public Lands 
• Youth Aging out of Foster Care 
• Elderly  
• Additional Request for Applications will be forthcoming for  
• Redevelopment  
• Housing Near Military Installations  
• Housing in Rural Areas of Opportunity  

The presentation can be accessed below:  

Video; Meeting Packet  

This week state agencies presented their FY 24-25 Legislative Budget Requests.  

The Florida Department of Legal Affairs Office of the Attorney General (OAG) put in a budget request of approximately $25 million dollars for FY 24-25. The agency highlighted proposed spending for the following programs: OAG’s IT Modernization Project ($7M), installation of additional drug take back kiosks in mainly rural, underserved areas (independent pharmacies and hospitals) ($1M), OAG staffing ($3M rate and $6M in budget/all general revenue), and land purchase of prized properties ($175 M).  

Also presenting their Legislative Budget Request in this committee were: 

 State Courts System 

State Attorneys 

Public Defenders and Appellate Public Defenders 

Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsels 

Capital Collateral Regional Counsels 

Guardian Ad Litem 

Justice Administrative Commission 

The presentations can be accessed below:  



Video; Meeting Packet  

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) held a presentation for the House State Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee where they placed a FY 24-25 budget request of around $58 million, of which approximately $42 M was requested for the funding to complete the build out and set up of the new State Emergency Operations Center and ensure FDEM has the capacity to perform day-to-day functions within the new building.  

Also presenting their Legislative Budget Request in this committee were: 

Department of Transportation 

Department of State 

The presentations can be accessed below:  



Video; Meeting Packet  

Presenting their Legislative Budget Request in this committee were: 

Department of Elder Affairs 

Agency for Persons with Disabilities  

Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs 

The presentations can be accessed below: 



Video; Meeting packet 

Last Friday, November 3, the Judicial Consolidation Assessment Committee convened to discuss a potential restructuring of Florida’s judicial circuits. This was part of a larger series of meetings initiated after House Speaker Paul Renner issued a letter requesting that the Florida Supreme Court explore the idea of consolidating certain circuits.  

The Committee, comprised of Judges, Public Defenders, State Attorneys, and State Court Administrator staff, reported on the potential impacts of consolidation on court efficiency and accessibility. Most agreed that consolidation would have, at best, a net neutral impact on these metrics. Some cautioned that expanding the geographic boundaries of a circuit may reduce accessibility for those in peripheral areas.  



Ultimately, the Committee unanimously voted to recommend against consolidation of any circuits. Their recommendations will be considered by the Florida Supreme Court before a final report is issued.  Additional information is available at the Committee’s website here.