Budget Update

Budget Conference began last weekend with subcommittees meeting to negotiate differences in remaining issue areas. The subcommittees had until Monday night to resolve discrepancies before the remaining issues were “bumped up” to the full budget appropriations committee. The committee continues to meet and is expected to work through next week. Some remaining unsolved issues include K-12 Education, Higher Education, Healthcare, and federal COVID related infrastructure funding.

A late development emerged this week on the on-again off-again negotiations between the state and the Seminole Tribe related to the Gaming Compact. Its been reported that the Governor and Seminoles have reached an agreement on gambling activities and state revenue sharing. Under the agreement, the state would be guaranteed $500 million annually for five years while providing the Seminoles with exclusive control over online sports betting in the state and allowing pari-mutuels to continue card games without expansion. Any agreement between the Governor and Seminole Tribe will have to be approved by the Legislature. In the past, the House has been hesitant to take up and pass the gambling compact. It is also unclear if the new compact runs afoul of the constitutional amendment passed in 2018 that requires statewide voter approval on the expansion of gambling.

We expect a week long Special Session to begin on May 17th specific to the issue of the gaming compact and generated revenue.

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 Updates

Regulatory
SB 88 Farming Operations amends the Florida Right to Farm Act. The general purpose of the act is to protect reasonable agricultural activities conducted on farm land from nuisance lawsuits. The bill provides stronger liability protections to farms that comply with best management practices and environmental regulations.

The definition of “farm operations” is expanded to add “agritourism” activities to the list of farm operations that receive limited legal protections in nuisance suits and other similar civil actions. The definition is further revised to include the generation of “particle emissions” to the list of conditions or activities that constitute farm operations.

The bill defines “established date of operation” for an agritourism activity as the date the specific agritourism activity commenced, providing for a separate established date of operation for an agritourism activity than for the farm operation.

The bill defines “nuisance” to mean any interference with the reasonable use and enjoyment of land, including, but not limited to, noise, smoke, odors, dust, fumes, particle emissions, or vibration. The term also includes all legal claims that meet the requirements of the definition of nuisance, regardless of whether a plaintiff designates those claims as brought in an action for nuisance, negligence, trespass, personal injury, strict liability, or some other tort.

The burden of proof that a plaintiff must meet in a nuisance action is raised to the clear and convincing evidence standard if the claim is based upon allegations that the defendant’s conduct did not comply with state or federal environmental laws, regulations, or best management practices.

The bill limits those who may bring a nuisance action against a farm operation to people whose real property that is alleged to be damaged is located within one-half mile of the alleged source of the nuisance.

SB 88 limits compensatory damages in a private nuisance action to the reduction in the fair market value of the plaintiff’s property, which may not exceed the fair market value of the property.

The bill prohibits a plaintiff from recovering punitive damages for a farm operation in a private nuisance action unless the alleged nuisance is based on substantially the same conduct that resulted in either a criminal conviction or a civil enforcement action by a government environmental regulatory agency and the conviction or enforcement action occurred within 3 years of the first act forming the basis of the nuisance action. A losing plaintiff is liable for a farm’s litigation costs and expenses incurred defending a nuisance action if the farm operation has been in existence for 1 year or more before the legal action was instituted and the farm operation conforms to generally accepted agricultural and management practices or government environmental laws. SB 88 has passed the Legislature and has been sent to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 896 Renewable Energy creates s. 163.3205, F.S., relating to the solar facility approval process. The bill defines a “solar facility,” as a production facility for electric power, which uses photovoltaic modules1 to convert solar energy to electricity that may be stored on site, delivered to a transmission system, and consumed primarily offsite. It further provides the components of a solar facility.

The bill requires solar facilities to be a permitted use in all agricultural land use categories in a local government’s comprehensive plan, all agricultural zoning districts within an unincorporated area.

SB 896 requires facilities to comply with setback and landscaped buffer area criteria for similar uses in the agricultural district and allows a county to adopt ordinances specifying buffer and landscaping requirements for facilities. Such requirements may not exceed those of similar uses involving construction of other facilities permitted in agricultural land use categories and zoning districts.

The bill amends s. 366.91, F.S., by adding the terms “biogas” and “renewable natural gas,” and expanding the term “renewable energy.”

The term “biogas” means a mixture of gases, largely comprised of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and methane gas, that is produced by the biological decomposition of organic materials. 

The term “renewable natural gas” (RNG) means anaerobically generated biogas, landfill gas, or wastewater treatment gas, which is refined to a methane content of 90 percent or more, that may be used as transportation fuel, for electric generation, or is of a quality capable of being injected into a natural gas pipeline.

The term “renewable energy,” is expanded to mean electrical energy produced from a method that uses one or more of the following fuels or energy sources: hydrogen produced or resulting from energy sources other than fossil fuels, biomass, solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, ocean energy, and hydroelectric power.

The bill provides that the Public Service Commission (PSC) may approve cost recovery by a gas public utility for RNG purchase contracts, in which the pricing provisions exceed the current market price of natural gas, but which are otherwise deemed reasonable and prudent by the PSC. SB 896 is available for floor action.

Taxes
SB 50 Taxes and Fees on Remote Sales requires out-of-state retailers and marketplace providers with no physical presence in Florida to collect Florida’s sales tax on sales of taxable items delivered to purchasers in Florida if the out-of-state retailer or marketplace provider makes a substantial number of sales into Florida.

A substantial number of remote sales means conducting any number of taxable remote sales in an amount exceeding $100,000 during the previous calendar year. The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) determined the bill will:

  • Increase General Revenue Fund receipts by $973.6 million in Fiscal Year 2021-2022 and by $1.08 billion each year thereafter.
  • Increase state trust fund receipts by $0.3 million in Fiscal Year 2021-2022 and by $3.3 million each year thereafter.
  • Increase local government revenues by $229.5 million in Fiscal Year 2021-2022 and by $253.7 million each year thereafter. Except as otherwise provided in the bill, the bill takes effect July 1, 2021.

SB 50 has been signed by the Governor into law.

Transportation
HB 249 Specialty License Plates authorizes purchasers of presale vouchers to obtain a refund if the plate has met the presale requirement, but has not been issued. It also clarifies that DHSMV may not issue a new specialty license plate until a sufficient number are discontinued so that the number of available plate does not exceed 150.

HB 249 also provides that if an independent college or university elects to use the standard template license plate, DHSMV must discontinue its existing license plate.

The bill also creates the Florida State Parks, Honor Flight, Biscayne Bay, Disease Prevention & Early Detection, Protect Marine Wildlife, and 30A.com/Scenic Walton specialty license plates, each with an annual use fee of $25. Each plate must bear DHSMV approved colors and designs with “Florida” appearing at the top of the plate and the plate-related slogan appearing at the bottom of the plate. The annual use fees are distributed as provided in the provisions related to each specialty license plate.

HB 249 is available for House floor action.

HB 605 Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety addresses issues relating to bicycle and pedestrian safety. In summary, the bill:

  • Defines the terms “bicycle lane” and “separated bicycle lane.”
  • Provides requirements for a vehicle overtaking a bicycle, other nonmotorized vehicle, or an electric bicycle occupying the same travel lane.
  • Requires the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to annually provide an awareness and safety campaign regarding vehicles overtaking a bicycle, other nonmotorized vehicle, or an electric bicycle.
  • Provides that no-passing zones do not apply to drivers who safely and briefly drive to the left of center of the roadway to overtake a bicycle, other nonmotorized vehicle or an electric bicycle.. · Requires a vehicle making a right turn while overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction, to do so only if the bicycle is at least 20 feet from the intersection, provided that the driver can safely turn.
  • Provides guidelines for riding a bicycle in a substandard-width lane and authorizes riders to ride two abreast if certain conditions exit.
  • Authorizes bicyclists riding in groups, after coming to a full stop, to go through an intersection in a group of 10 or fewer, and requires drivers to let one group travel through the intersection before moving forward.
  • Requires at least 25 questions in the test bank for the driver license test to address bicycle and pedestrian safety.

HB 605 is available for floor action in the House.

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 and has been sent to the Senate.

SB 7070 Impact of COVID-19 on Educational Institutions creates liability protections for educational institutions for actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and requires the Board of Nursing to extend an approved program’s probationary status. Specifically, the bill:

  • Creates specified liability protections for an educational institution that has taken reasonably necessary actions to diminish the impact or the spread of COVID-19 and provides immunity from any civil damages, equitable relief, or other remedies relating to such actions.
  • Provides an additional year of probationary status for an approved nursing program that has not achieved the required passage rate on the national nursing licensing examination in the 2020 calendar year. The Board of Nursing must grant that extension at a regularly scheduled meeting in 2021.

SB 7070 is available for Senate floor action.

*Summaries provided by House and Senate bill analyses