2018 Florida Legislative Session Recap

3/12/2018

The legislative session didn't go quite as everyone planned, and quite understandably so. The tragedy in Parkland, FL diverted attention from many of the initiatives that were originally top priorities for the House and Senate. In some ways, this was good for business. In other ways it impacted funding for many of our local community members. See below for a recap of a general session overview. Don't forget to RSVP to the 2018 Legislative Wrap-Up breakfast scheduled for Wednesday, April 4 from 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. at the Chain of Lakes Complex poolside room.

Graphic provided by the Florida Chamber of Commerce

Legislative Session Highlights:

3,193 bills filed and 192 passed both houses.
Session was extended two days, from March 9 to March 11 for the budget negotiations. The budget was approved by the House and Senate and is now with the Governor. It is the largest budget in the state’s history at $88.7 Billion, up 7.6% from 2017-2018 budget.

Items that were good for business:

The Central Polk Parkway has $15 million allocated in the state budget towards continued design. The Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Turnpike, in addition to our local Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), have all named this road a priority. The Winter Haven Chamber strongly supports the construction of the parkway extension as a regional priority; it is a relief road for Highway 27 from Lake Wales to I-4 (and truly up through Lake County) as well as I-4 from Highway 27 to the 429/Osceola County depending on where the final I-4 access lands. Florida Turnpike has the drawing for Segment 1 up on their website here.

Small reduction of the sales tax on commercial leases from 5.8% to 5.7%. An effort has been underway to phase out this tax completely, but it’s more of a chipping away year-over-year approach that's happening.

Failure of House Bill 3. Many viewed this bill as negative towards economic development due to what some believed as extreme measures against economic development councils and visitor and convention bureaus because of its ability to release all information regarding new business leads and negotiations as well as other transparency requirements.

Funding remained stable in the state's budget for Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development agency, at $16 million, and Visit Florida, the states destination marketing organizations, at $76 million.

A 7-day disaster preparedness tax holiday was passed and will take effect June 1 - June 7 on hurricane survival kit related supplies

A 3-day Back to School Sales Tax Holiday will run from August 3 - 5, 2018 on common back to school clothing and supplies.

A measure was approved that will now go to voters on the November ballot that, if passed, will require a 2/3 vote (supermajority) in both the House and Senate to approve any increase in a state tax or fee.

While it is uncertain how this allocation will impact Polk County Public Schools, $21.1 Billion was allocated to Florida Public Schools with an average increase in per student funding by $101.50. However, they may not be the number for Polk County based on funding formulas.

Bill requiring computer science and coding instruction to be a greater priority in Florida's K-12 classrooms passed.

More funding was given to the State University System and Florida Bright Future's scholarship funding was fully funded and also allowed to be used during the summer. While increased funding is great for the state university system, it came at the expense of the state college system which suffered a reduction in funding again under the leadership of Senate President Joe Negron.

Polk State College was awarded $500,000 in reoccurring funding for advising but once again the funding for the Lake Wales Campus was culled out as a separate line item on the budget. It remains in the budget at this point, and we encourage the Governor to leave it untouched. No other PECO funding was allocated towards Polk State. On a happier note, the efforts to place a cap on bachelor degree programs died during this session. We strongly oppose that cap as Polk State is one of our greatest assets when it comes to access to higher education and workforce development.

Numerous items that could have been bad for business were defeated or the clock ran out and the issue died (but require vigilance as they could come back next session). According to the Florida Chamber those included: PIP repeal without bad faith reforms, a ban on plastic bags, minimum wage increases, hurricane-related employer mandates, open carry liability, interruption of services, anti-rail, anti-fracking, expansion of gambling, attacks on the hurricane catastrophe fund, prejudgment interest, etc.

Items that could hurt business:

No meaningful action taken to repair the “Assignment of Benefits” fraud in the auto and homeowners insurance industry.

No action taken towards reducing worker compensation rates this session which some economist believe could lead to increased rates in 2018.

The reduction of funding for our state college system can greatly impact needed workforce development programs. This will be something that we will continue to focus on protecting in coming sessions.

The Arts were once again cut this session. For example, Theatre Winter Haven had been awarded a grant in partnership with the City of Winter Haven which would have added bathrooms, a covered drop-off to the theatre and an elevator. The legislature defunded the grant. Arts and culture are an important economic driver for the quality of life for our residents and an attraction for our visitors.

Other items:
School Safety Bill:

Allocates $400 million towards K-12 school safety.
Raises the minimum age to purchase any gun from 18 to 21 with exemptions for active-duty military, national guard, law enforcement and their spouses.
Bans bump stocks.
Extends the three day wait period for purchasing a gun to rifles and shotguns unless the individual has completed a hunting safety course and holds a state of Florida safe hunter license. Previous to this legislation the 3-day waiting period was only for hand guns.
Does not impact private one-on-one sale of guns.
Institutes mandatory active shooter drills.
Allows for "gun violence" restraining orders on both purchasing and/or possessing a firearm if determined to be mentally ill and expands law enforcements ability to seize firearms when a person is baker acted or committed.
Allocates $69 million towards mental health counseling and services in our schools.
Allocates $162 towards school resource officers in our schools.
Allocates $99 towards the physical safety of the school.
Creates a voluntary program for school staff to volunteer to carry weapons. The original bill included teachers, but the approved version excludes most classroom teachers from volunteering for the program, a compromise aimed at earning the support of the governor, and many lawmakers, who opposed the idea. The bill left only non-teacher staff eligible to participate, such as administrators, guidance counselors, librarians and coaches. Those that volunteer must undergo 132 hours of gun safety training with the Sheriff’s office and 12 hours of diversity training to be able to have a gun in school. In order for this funding to be dispersed both the school district and the Sheriff’s department have to agree on the program. The Polk County Public School Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd released a video last week stating their opposition to arming teachers specifically. Sheriff Grady Judd has come out in strong support of the program. Judd will be presenting to the school district today.

Daylight Savings Time:
File this one in the random column: The Florida Legislature has passed bill that asks for the federal Congress to consider keeping Florida in Daylight Savings Time all year. Senator Marco Rubio has stated that he will bring this bill up for discussion. You can read more about this in The Ledger.

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2018 Florida Legislative Session Recap

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