It's crunch time! The 2024 Legislative Session is set to end on time tomorrow at noon. The budget has been tweaked and a slew of bills are set to go to the Governor. Today also marks the end of two local legislators' time in Tallahassee--Senator Keith Perry and Representative Chuck Clemons have concluded their final terms in these offices. We thank them for their years of dedication to our community.

The 2024 budget is close to done. The final, negotiated budget hit Legislators’ desks at about noon on Tuesday and entered the mandated cooling off period of 72 hours. Barring a last-minute hiccup, the regular session is on track to adjourn tomorrow.

After negotiations, Florida’s budget comes in right about $117 billion, a slight increase from the initial proposed House and Senate Budgets but a slight decrease (-1.4%) from the current budget. It's also a $2 billion increase from the $114.4 billion proposal released by Governor DeSantis.

 

Budget highlights include:

The next steps are passage by both Chambers, then action by the Governor. A reminder, Governor DeSantis wields line-item veto authority, so the budget is likely to change from what the Legislature sends over. And, if history is an indicator, it is likely to change substantially. 

In addition, total spending will increase over the budget final number due to separate legislation that authorizes spending.  

SB 2500 -- Appropriations / The Senate Budget

HB 5001 -- General Appropriations Act / The House Budget

Also of note, budget negotiations are always made easier by the Supplemental Funding agreements, or the “sprinkle list.” These supplemental expenditures are funded independently by each Chamber, so they don't have to match.

These sprinkles are also subject to the Governor’s line-item veto authority.

As of today, 218 bills have passed both Chambers and ordered enrolled--ready to be sent to the Governor. Here are a few we've been watching.

CS/SB 758 -- Tracking Devices and Applications -- prohibits placing or using a tracking device or tracking application to determine the location or movement of another person or another person’s property without that person’s consent

SB 812 -- Expedited Approval of Residential Building Permits -- requires governing bodies to expedite the process for issuing residential building permits--by a date certain--before a final plat is recorded. It also prohibits a governing body from making substantive changes to a preliminary plat without written consent.

SB 1084 -- Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services -- bans the manufacturing, sale or distribution of "cultivated meat," defined in the bill as any meat or food product produced from cultured animal cells. If signed by the Governor, Florida will be the first state in the nation with this ban.

SB 7016 -- Healthcare -- a priority of Senate President Passidomo, addresses existing workforce shortages and increases access to healthcare services by increasing medical residency opportunities, encouraging out-of-state physicians to practice in Florida and expanding telehealth access. 

HB 59 -- Provision Of Homeowners' Association Rules and Covenants -- rewrites laws governing condo associations.

HB 91 -- Transportation Facility Designations -- sponsored by Representative Clemons, designates all of those portions of S.R. A1A located in Monroe County; 13 of those in Miami-Dade County; all in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties; 14 in Indian River; all in Brevard, Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Duval; and 15 in Nassau as "Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway." 

CS/HB 241 -- Coverage for Skin Cancer Screenings -- requires DMS to require contracted state group health insurance plans to provide coverage and payment for annual skin cancer screenings.

HB 317 -- Interstate Safety -- Senator Perry's efforts with SB 258 paid off. No more sitting in the left-hand lane on the highway.  

CS/HB 583 -- Individual Wine Containers -- revises the exception to the maximum allowable capacity for individual container of wine sold in this state.

CS/CS/HB 621 -- Property Rights -- authorizes property owners or authorized agents to request assistance from the sheriff to immediately remove unauthorized occupants from a residential dwelling.

HB 781 -- Unsolicited Proposals for Public-Private Partnerships -- sponsored by Representative Clemons, refines how Florida tackles infrastructure projects. It eases or eliminates requirements for a competitive bidding process and gives public/private partnerships wider discretion in unsolicited proposals. 

CS/HB 919 -- Artificial Intelligence Use in Political Advertising -- requires that certain political advertisements, electioneering communications or other miscellaneous advertisements include a specific disclaimer: "created in whole or in part with the use of generative artificial intelligence.”

CS/CS/HB 1365 -- Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping -- prohibits counties and municipalities from authorizing or otherwise allowing public camping or sleeping on public property without a designation by DCF.

The Tax Bills are still being negotiated. The House passed its package this week, containing tax relief totaling $828 million ($31.0 million recurring). Much of the bill was previously included in either the House or Senate proposals, but a $450 million toll rebate program for drivers with more than 35 toll transactions per month was included as part of a last-minute deal at the urging of the Governor.

A Senate amendment left off House plans to require voters to approve local sales tax referendums every 10 years and to reapprove tourist development taxes, or bed taxes, which fund local tourism marketing boards, every six years. The House plan to cut the tax on business rent to 1.25% starting July 1 was also snipped from the final bill. The rate is already set to fall to 2% in August under current law.

HB 7073 -- Taxation / The House

SB 7074 -- Taxation / The Senate

Senate President Passidomo's "Learn Local" bills, SB 7002 and SB 7004, provide more flexibility to local school districts when setting salaries, set transparency criteria and revise elementary school requirements for students struggling in reading and math.

CS/CS/SB 1264 -- History of Communism -- the companion/amended final to HB 1349 introduced by Representative Brannan requires instruction in public schools on the history of communism.

SB 1716 -- Citizens Property Insurance Corporation -- makes significant changes to Citizens by merging the corporation’s multiple accounts into one. The bill also allows more carriers to operate and removes second homes from its coverage to reduce the state’s financial risk.

SB 1600 -- Interstate Mobility -- requires the Department of Health to provide a pathway to licensure by endorsement for any of the 59 healthcare professions. It regulates and ensures the process is swift, requiring the license or certificate to be issued within 15 days of receipt of all required documentation. 

HB 1 -- Online Protection for Minors -- The original bill, banning any minor under the age of 16 from having social media accounts, was passed by the Legislature, sent to the Governor, then vetoed. 

Negotiations continued and changes were made. CS/CS/HB 3 is the replacement bill. The substantive change negotiated with the Governor's office prohibits any minor age 13 or younger from having social media accounts, with 14- and 15-year-olds permitted to do so only with parental consent. The bill does not specify how the platforms obtain that consent.

The bill does not list specific social media sites, but rather bans minors from those with addictive features like data collection algorithms and infinite scrolling. Platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are all likely to qualify. An open question exists on whether it could or would apply to video gaming sites. 

The bill places the responsibility to enact and enforce the ban with the platforms--there is no penalty for a parent or child if they end up with an account. If signed, the bill is expected to face court challenges.  

SB 328 -- Affordable Housing -- places new preemptions on local development controls and adds some exemptions for short term rentals.