Sixth Week of the 2024 Legislative Session 

Welcome to week 6 of the 2024 legislative session! The Countdown Clock reads 21 days until Sine Die. Bills will be heard and amended every day—stay on top of county priorities with this weekly legislative bulletin or with our comprehensive Bill Tracker.   

On Wednesday, the House State Affairs Committee passed CS/CS/HB 57 by Rep. Salzman (13-7). During committee, an amendment was adopted that changed the amended version of the bill from 12-year County Commissioner term limits to 8- years. In addition, this amendment now aligns with the Senate companion, adding the following requirements: 

• Requires charter counties with 12-year term limits (Polk, Lee & Broward) to put a measure on the ballot to allow voters to decide if their County Commissioner should be subject to an 8-year term limit.   
• Charter Counties without term limits; prior service before 11/5/2024 does not count towards the 8-year limit.  This does not supersede more restrictive term limits and does not authorize County Commissioners to serve another 8-year consecutive term.  

The House companion CS/SB 438 by Sen. Ingoglia was Temporarily Postponed on Wednesday in Senate Rules.  

FAC staff Bob McKee, along with County Commissioners Ralph Thomas (Wakulla County), Brenda Holt (Gadsden County), and Fred Nichols (Wakulla County) opposed the bill at the podium.

On Wednesday, the House State Affairs committee Passed CS/CS/HB 1567 by Rep. Grant unanimously. During committee, an amendment was adopted that removed the requirement for an emergency management director to have a bachelor’s degree. If an emergency manager has a bachelor's degree, this can substitute it for the required 50 hours for specified training. 

This bill mandates education, experience, and training criteria for county Emergency Management Directors. New requirements under this bill include 50 hours of specified training or a bachelor’s degree, with four years of experience in emergency management, including direct supervisory duties during an emergency. A master’s degree can substitute for two years of experience but not for supervisory roles. Accreditation as Certified Master Exercise Practitioner, Certified Emergency Manager, or Florida Professional Emergency Manager can also substitute, but must be maintained. Directors must complete 150 hours of emergency management training, including FEMA courses, and possess a valid Florida driver's license. The deadline for compliance is June 30, 2026.  

This bill moved through its final committee stop and now awaits scheduling for its appearance on the house floor. The Senate companion, CS/SB 1262, is waiting to be heard in its final committee stop in the Senate Rules Committee. 

On Thursday, the House Commerce Committee passed CS/CS/SB 1645 by Rep. Payne. This was the bill’s final committee of reference in the House. Meanwhile, the Senate companion, SB 1624 by Sen. Collins, was temporarily postponed in the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government. The bill has been placed on the agenda again for next Tuesday.  

The bill includes a preemption of local government zoning of natural gas facilities. Specifically, it provides that a natural gas “resiliency facility” is a permitted use in all commercial, industrial, and manufacturing land use categories. The local government may still require certain setback and landscaping criteria for the facility, provided that the requirements are not more stringent than those imposed on similar uses within those land use categories.  

The bill also amends a number of other energy-related statutes. Full provisions can be found in the bill’s staff analysis here.  

On Wednesday, SB 7040 unanimously passed its final Senate committee, Senate Rules, while the House version unanimously passed in House Infrastructure Strategies. The bill requires the legislature to ratify the Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed stormwater rule.  

For context, the 2020 Clean Waterways Act directed DEP and the water management districts to initiate rulemaking regarding stormwater infrastructure and the associated environmental resource permitting process. Proposed rules with an aggregate 5-year economic impact estimate over $1 million trigger the statutory requirement for legislative ratification—the 5-year impact of this rule is estimated to be over $1 billion. 

On Thursday, the two chambers unanimously passed a pair of companion bills providing funding for land acquisition and water quality projects. HB 1417 by Rep. Buchanan passed the Infrastructure Strategies Committee, while SB 1638 by Sen. Hutson passed the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. Following a strike-all amendment on the House side, the two bills are now roughly identical.  

The bills direct the Department of Revenue to distribute 96% of the 2021 gaming compact revenues to land conservation and water infrastructure projects. To guide water projects under this section, the bill creates a 5-year water quality work program and water quality revolving loan fund. The bill also appropriates $5 million for planning of project criteria and priorities under the water quality work program. 

Funding highlights include: 



• 32% of the gaming compact revenues to the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (DACS) for land acquisition, with priority given to Florida Wildlife Corridor properties  
• 32% of the gaming compact revenues for land management activities, further subdivided as follows: 
• 55% to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 
• 27% to the Incidental Trust Fund within DACS  
• 9% to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the Local Trail Management Grant program 
• 9% to DEP’s State Park Trust Fund for land management within state park properties 
• 32% of the gaming compact revenues to DEP to implement the Water Quality Work Plan and provide initial funding for the Water Quality Revolving Loan Fund 

On Wednesday , the House Ways and Means committee supported (16-6) the annual tax package, HB 7073, sponsored by Rep. McClain. This bill includes the following provisions: 

The bill proposes various tax holidays on back-to-school shopping, disaster preparedness supplies, and recreational items. It also temporarily reduces the business rent tax rate and allows leasing companies to pay tax upfront on vehicle purchases. Additionally, it mandates periodic voter approval for local sales surtax and allows Duval County to implement an indigent care sales surtax with voter approval. 

The prescribed tax-related holidays and measures look to have a local government fiscal impact of 132.8 million in FY 24-25 and then a recurring impact of 4.4 million to counties. 

The bill also aligns corporate income tax with federal provisions effective January 1, 2024, and introduces a credit for hiring individuals with disabilities. It expands tax assessment limits for renewable energy devices and clarifies criteria for assessing property by electric utilities. Additionally, it imposes restrictions on tourist development taxes, mandates voter approval for existing taxes by a deadline, and allows certain counties to use tax surpluses for affordable housing in areas designated as a critical state of concern. The estimated fiscal impact for 2024-25 is a $650.4 million decrease, aiming to stimulate growth, manage tax revenue efficiently, and support specific policy objectives. 

FAC staff Bob McKee was present to give his testimony on this bill. Currently it has no companion bill and still awaits its committee references, and we will follow the progression of this tax package as it starts its journey through the committee process. 

On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved both proposed committee bills, WMC6 and WMC7.The two bills will be called HB 7075 and HB 7077, respectively.  

The Florida Constitution reserves ad valorem taxation on real and tangible personal property to local governments, with taxes based on the fair market value determined by county property appraisers annually. Certain items like motor vehicles and household goods up to $1,000 are exempt, while other tangible personal property may be subject to taxation based on specific criteria or exemptions. 

WMC6 aims to increase the exemption on the assessed value of tangible personal property from $25,000 to $50,000, pending approval by 60% of voters during the 2024 general election. The estimated recurring negative impact on local government revenues is approximately -$100 million annually starting in FY 2025-26. The joint resolution, requiring a three-fifths majority in each legislative house, is not subject to the governor's veto powers. 

WMC7 serves as the implementing bill for WMC6, and it also outlines a plan to provide financial assistance to certain counties that would experience a reduction in ad valorem tax revenue due to changes in the State Constitution. Specifically, it requires the Legislature to allocate funds to offset revenue losses for "fiscally constrained counties" resulting from a constitutional amendment. These funds would be distributed among eligible counties based on the proportion of their total revenue reduction. 

These bills do not have senate companions, nor do they have committee references. We will follow the development of these PCB bills as they move through the process. 

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance and Tax Committee passed SB 886 by Sen. Gruters (4-2). The bill revises the methodology for valuing timeshare units for ad valorem taxation. Current law directs a property appraiser to look to the resale market to determine the valuation of a property. If the Property Appraiser determines there is an insufficient number of resales, they may use the original sale price minus the administrative costs of the sale.  

Under this bill, the property appraiser is directed to defer to the property owner regarding the methodology for valuation—whether the resale market or the original purchase price. It is important to note that valuations from the resale market range from 40-75% lower than those of the purchase price valuation. This is likely due to the number of “distressed sales” arising from timeshare properties—as property owners seek to get out of often rigid timeshare contracts. The revised methodology would result in a $171 million local impact for FY 2024-25.  

This bill’s companion, HB 471 by Rep.Fine, has been placed on the special order calendar to be heard. 

On Wednesday, the Senate Rules Committee unanimously passed CS/SB 1058 by Sen. Hutson and is headed to the Senate floor. This bill seeks to implement reforms for special districts, including term limits for officials and legislative oversight of boundary changes. It also mandates performance metrics, reduces mosquito control district millage rates, and prohibits new safe neighborhood improvement districts while calling for a review of existing ones. The Senate companion CS/CS/HB 7013 by Rep. Persons – Mulicka has passed off the House floor and has been received and referred to Rules. 

CS/SB 712 by Sen. Powell was Temporarily posted on the Senate Floor on Thursday morning after being placed on Special Order Calendar. The House version CS/HB 103 by Rep. Arrington passed unanimously off the House Floor.

On Wednesday, CS/CS/HB 569 by Rep. McFarland died in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill was scheduled to be heard in Committee on Wednesday morning but has been removed from the Judiciary Calendar altogether. 

On Wednesday, CS/HB 433 by Rep. Esposito passed the State Affairs Committee (14-6). The bill prohibits local governments, through their purchasing or contracting procedures, from seeking to control or affect the wages or employment benefits provided by its vendors, contractors, or service providers. The bill also preempts the regulation of labor and employment to the state. A local government may not adopt or enforce any terms of employment exceeding the state or federal standards unless expressly authorized by general law. FAC staff interpret this section to also apply to internal county policies concerning their own employees. 

This bill also preempts the regulation of workplace heat exposure requirements to the state. This includes employee monitoring and protection, water consumption, cooling measures, acclimatization and recovery periods or practices, and posting or distributing notices or materials relating to heat exposure, which inform employees how to protect themselves from such exposures. 

FAC staff Bob McKee testified in opposition to the preemptions.  

Sen. Trumbull's Senate companion CS/SB 1492 no longer contains the wage and employment preemptions and only contains the heat exposure language.  

On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means committee passed (19-2) CS/CS/HB 927 by Rep. Trabulsy, which addresses a number of concerns with the Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, program. The program allows residential and commercial property owners to finance eligible improvements, including energy efficiency and wind resistance projects, through assessments on their annual tax bill. 

Following a strike-all amendment, the bill clarifies that a PACE program administrator may only offer residential financing within the jurisdiction of a county or municipality that has authorized the program by ordinance or resolution. Without this clarification, rogue program administrators may be emboldened to operate statewide with little oversight. 

The bills also expand the eligible uses of the program to include advanced wastewater treatment and flood mitigation but remove solar energy as an eligible use. Lastly, the bill tightens the consumer protections surrounding the program, including additional disclosure requirements and greater financial scrutiny on a property owner’s ability to repay. 

The House language now identically matches the Senate version, CS/CS/SB 770 by Sen. Martin, which already passed off the Senate floor.  

On Thursday, the House Commerce Committee passed CS/CS/CS HB 267 by Rep. Esposito (16-2). During committee, there were three amendments adopted that make the following changes to the amended bill: 



• The first amendment strips the local government's ability to have a fee owner sign a waiver allowing timelines set forth in this bill to be surpassed due to concurrent review. Adds a 10-day time frame for a local government to issue a building permit or provide specific deficiencies to the reason the permit application failed, and the codes being violated when a private provider is used. This amendment also added language regarding handrails in elevators and internship programs for building code inspectors or plans examiners. 
• The second amendment adds thermal efficiency standards for unvented attics and enclosed rafter assemblies regarding air handlers.  
• The third amendment adds, except as otherwise provided, this act shall take effect January 1, 2025, language to the end of the bill.  

FAC staff Jeff Scala opposed this language at the podium, specifically highlighting the unreasonable timelines and the automatic approval of a permit if a local government fails to meet the timelines.  

The Senate companion CS/SB 684 by Sen. DiCeglie is still waiting to be heard in its second committee stop.  

On Wednesday, the Senate Rules Committee unanimously passed CS/CS/CS/SB 812 by Sen. Ingoglia. During committee, four amendments were adopted that make the following changes to the bill: 



• Removes language regarding a municipality having 35,000 residents or more and 25 acres or more of contiguous land that the local government has designated to be residential development to create an expedited process for the issuance of building permits.  
• Adds that a municipality that has 25 acres or more of contiguous land that the local government has designated to be residential development to create an expedited process for the issuance of building permits.  
• Requires that a governing body establish a registry of at least three qualified contractors whom the governing body may use to supplement staff resources for processing and expediting the review of an applicant for a preliminary plat or plans.  
• Defines Qualified Contractor to include but not be limited to engineer or engineering firm, surveyors or mapper or surveyors or mapper’s firm an architecture firm or other qualified professional who is certified in urban planning or environmental management.  

The House companion CS/CS/HB 665 by Rep. McClain is waiting to be heard on the House floor.  

CS/HB 1579 by Rep. Mooney unanimously passed the House Commerce Committee on Thursday and is headed to the House Floor. The bill directs the Construction Industry Licensing Board to provide a registration program for eligible contractors who were registered with a local jurisdiction during calendar years 2021, 2022, or 2023, when the local jurisdiction has since determined not to issue local licenses. 

To be eligible for registration under these circumstances, an applicant must provide: 

• Evidence of the prior local registration during 2021, 2022, or 2023. 
• Evidence that the local jurisdiction does not require a license for the category of work for which the applicant was issued a certification of registration or local license during 2021, 2022, or 2023, which may include a notification on the website of the local jurisdiction or an email or letter from the local building department. 
• The required application fee; and 
• Compliance with the insurance and financial responsibility requirements for contractors under current law. 

FAC staff waved in support of the bill. 

Sen. Hooper's Senate companion CS/SB 1142 is waiting to be heard on the floor.