Budget Update

As of noon on Friday, legislative leadership has yet to appoint conferees to begin the budget conference process. It was believed budget negotiations between the House and Senate were to begin this weekend but it seems increasingly unlikely to happen. Leaders are hashing out allocations for the various budget areas behind closed doors and will not begin conference until after an agreement has been made. Deciding how the massive influx of non-recurring federal dollars will be spent is presumably slowing down the process.

As reported last week, lawmakers have until April 27th to finalize the budget, meeting the 72 hour “cooling off” period before the last day of Regular Session, April 30th. Currently, the House is at roughly $97 billion while the Senate comes in at $95 billion. The current state budget is $92 billion. 

Bill Action
With the end of Regular Session rapidly approaching with roughly two weeks, members are scrambling to place bills onto the few remaining committee meeting agendas. Next week marks the end of regularly scheduled committee meetings prompting lawmakers to push committee chairs and leadership for a hearing. By design, most filed legislation will die as legislators turn their attention to the budget and remaining priority bills.

Regulatory
The controversial Anti-Protest bill, HB 1, has passed the full Legislature and will be sent to the Governor for signature soon where he is expected to approve the legislation. Cracking down of perceived violent actions in wake of last year’s protests around the country in reaction to the killing of George Floyd and others was one of DeSantis’ top priorities this Session.

The bill addresses acts of public disorder to define previously undefined offenses of affray, riot, and inciting a riot and create the offenses of aggravated rioting and aggravated inciting a riot. Among other provisions, the bill:

  • Requires a person arrested for unlawful assembly, riot, and certain offenses committed in furtherance of a riot or aggravated riot, to be held in jail until he or she appears for a first appearance hearing and a court determines bond;
  • Creates a budget appeal process to challenge reductions in municipal law enforcement agencies’ budgets similar to that available to a county sheriff;
  • Corrects constitutional infirmities in the current prohibition against obstructing a roadway;
  • Provides that a municipality is civilly liable for specified damages proximately caused by the municipality’s breach of a duty to allow the municipal law enforcement agency to respond appropriately to protect persons and property during a riot or an unlawful assembly (as specified in the bill);
  • Increases penalties for assault and battery, and increases offense severity level rankings for aggravated assault and aggravated battery, when committed in furtherance of a riot or an aggravated riot;

HB 969 Data Privacy – Due to the growth in the Internet and specifically the growth in companies whose entire business model is the collection of personal information for the purpose of selling targeted advertising, many countries and states have adopted or updated their laws relating to the collection and use of personal information. Specifically, the European Union, and states like California, Virginia and Illinois, have enacted data privacy regulations to protect personal information and give consumers more control over how their information is used.

The bill requires certain controllers to publish a privacy policy for personal information. The bill defines “personal information” as information that identifies, relates to, or describes a particular consumer or household, or is reasonably capable of being directly or indirectly associated or linked with, a particular consumer or household. The term does not include public information that is readily available to the public from government records, certain employee information, or deidentified or aggregate information.

HB 969 gives consumers certain rights related to personal information collected by a controller, including:

  • The right to access personal information collected,
  • The right to delete or correct personal information, and
  • The right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information. The bill requires controllers to comply with certain consumer requests and make certain information available on the controller’s website.

The bill allows the Department of Legal Affairs to bring an action against, and collect civil penalties from, a controller, processor, or person who violates these requirements. Consumers whose personal information has been breached, sold, or shared after opting-out, or retained after a request to delete or correct may also bring a cause of action against the controller, processor, or person in certain limited circumstances. HB 969 passed the House Commerce Committee and is available for floor action. 

Taxes 
PCB WMC 21-01 – Taxation provides for several sales tax holidays and other tax-related modifications designed to directly impact both families and businesses. For sales tax, the bill includes:

  • Changes to ch. 212, F.S., that will allow businesses to pay sales tax on behalf of their customers in certain circumstances, and allows the businesses to advertise this ability.
  • A 5-year extension of the deadline for a new data center to apply for an existing tax exemption.
  • A seven-day “back-to-school” tax holiday in early August for certain clothing, school supplies, and personal computers; · A seven-day “disaster preparedness” tax holiday in late May and early June for specified disaster preparedness items; and
  • A seven-day “recreation” tax holiday the first week of July for specified admissions and supplies used to enjoy the entertainment options and natural beauty Florida has to offer.

For property taxes, the bill:

  • Increases a property tax discount from 50 percent to 100 percent for certain multifamily projects that provide affordable housing to low-income families;
  • Clarifies the application of an exemption from ad valorem taxation for portions of property used for charitable, religious, scientific, or literary purposes;
  • Requires the tax collector to accept late payments on the first installment of prepaid property taxes; and removes the late payment penalty.
  • Exempts structures and equipment used in the production of aquaculture products from separate ad valorem assessment. For tourist development and convention development taxes, the bill:
  • Provides that each of the tourist development and convention development taxes can be used for flood mitigation projects at the discretion of local government; and
  • Requires that all new or increased tourist development and convention development taxes must be approved by voters at a referendum.

For corporate income tax and other taxes, the bill:

  • Creates the Strong Families Tax Credit Program, capped at $5 million total annually, for businesses that make monetary donations to certain eligible charitable organizations that provide services focused on child welfare and well-being.

PCB WMC 21-01 – Taxation passed the House Ways & Means Committee 

Transportation
SB 100 Highway Projects repeals the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance (M-CORES) program and related provisions and instead creates programs related to arterial highway projects. More specifically, the bill:

  • Authorizes the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to upgrade existing arterial roadways with targeted improvements, such as adding new tolled or non-tolled limited access alignments to manage congestion points and retrofitting roadways with tolled or non-tolled grade separations that provide alternatives to a signalized intersection for through traffic.
  • Prohibits a reduction of any non-tolled general use lanes of an existing facility, requires maintenance of existing access points, and limits the location of any tolling points such that a non-tolled alternative exists for local traffic.
  • Provides that all existing applicable requirements relating to FDOT or turnpike projects apply to any projects undertaken. Further, the FDOT and the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) must take into consideration the guidance and recommendations of any previous studies or reports relevant to the projects.
  • Directs the FDOT to develop, by December 31, 2035, and include in the work program, construction of controlled access facilities to achieve free flow of traffic on U.S. 19 and requires the facility to be developed using existing or portions of existing roadway by specified improvements.
  • Directs the FDOT to identify and include in the work program projects to widen certain two lane arterial rural roads serving high volumes of truck traffic to four lanes.
  • Directs the FDOT to begin the project development and environmental phase for a project to extend the Florida Turnpike from its current terminus in Wildwood to a terminus as determined by the FDOT, and to submit a summary report by December 31, 2022.

The bill is expected to have a minimal fiscal impact on state revenues or expenditures as it does not change the amount of revenue distributed to the State Transportation Trust Fund (STTF), it simply revises the authorized uses of such funding. The revenue redirected to the STTF as a result of the 2019 M-CORES legislation is retained in the STTF and is dedicated for purposes of funding the authorized controlled access facility projects and widening projects on arterial rural highways. 
SB 100 passed the House Appropriations Committee and is available for floor action.

SB 518 Drones provides an additional exception to the statutory ban on certain uses of drones by law enforcement agencies, fire departments, state agencies, and political subdivisions of the state. The bill specifically no longer prohibits a state agency or political subdivision to use a drone for the assessment of damage due to a hurricane, a flood, a wildfire, or any other natural disaster. SB 518 passed Senate Rules and is available for floor action.

HB 1289 Autonomous Vehicles defines the term “low-speed autonomous delivery vehicle” (LSADV) as a fully autonomous vehicle that meets the current federal definition of low-speed vehicle, and is not designed for, or capable of human occupancy. The bill authorizes LSADVs to operate only on streets or roads with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less but does not prohibit such vehicles from crossing a road or street at an intersection where the road or street has a posted speed limit of more than 35 miles per hour. An LSADV may operate on a street or road with a posted speed limit of more than 35 miles per hour, but no more than 45 miles per hour, under certain conditions.

HB 1289 provides equipment requirements for LSADVs and provides that these requirements are superseded by any conflicting federal regulations. The bill also provides minimum insurance requirements, which are the same as those currently in law for autonomous vehicles. The bill provides that any motor vehicle equipment laws or regulations relating to or supporting motor vehicle operation by a human driver but not relevant for an automated driving system are inapplicable to fully autonomous vehicles designed to be operated exclusively by the automated driving system for all trips.

The bill also clarifies that low-speed autonomous delivery vehicles are not subject to certain statutory provisions applicable to low-speed vehicles, including provisions related to seasonal deliveries and driver license requirements. HB 1289 passed the House Commerce Committee and is available for floor action.

*Summaries provided by House and Senate bill analyses