Bill Text: FL S1482 | 2023 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Rural Development

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-02 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/HB 1209 (Ch. 2023-202) [S1482 Detail]

Download: Florida-2023-S1482-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2023                             CS for SB 1482
       
       
        
       By the Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and
       Economic Development; and Senator Simon
       
       
       
       
       606-03934-23                                          20231482c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to rural development; amending s.
    3         215.971, F.S.; requiring certain agency agreements to
    4         include a provision authorizing the agency to provide
    5         for the payment of specified invoices to certain
    6         counties or municipalities for certain verified and
    7         eligible performance; providing intent; providing
    8         construction; amending s. 288.018, F.S.; specifying
    9         that funding provided under the Regional Rural
   10         Development Grants Program is not a matching grant;
   11         revising the required criteria the Department of
   12         Economic Opportunity must consider in approving a
   13         participant in the program; amending s. 288.0655,
   14         F.S.; revising the purpose of the Rural Infrastructure
   15         Fund; revising the percentages of total infrastructure
   16         project cost that the Department of Economic
   17         Opportunity may award through the fund; providing
   18         authorized uses of eligible funds; deleting a
   19         provision requiring that eligible projects be related
   20         to specified opportunities; authorizing the department
   21         to award grants up to a specified amount for specified
   22         planning and preparation activities; deleting a
   23         restriction on dual grant awards being used which
   24         would exceed a specified percentage threshold;
   25         revising a provision that requires that awarded funds
   26         for specified surveys or other activities be matched
   27         with a specified amount of local funds; revising the
   28         evaluation process for applications; providing an
   29         effective date.
   30          
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. Paragraph (h) is added to subsection (1) of
   34  section 215.971, Florida Statutes, to read:
   35         215.971 Agreements funded with federal or state
   36  assistance.—
   37         (1) An agency agreement that provides state financial
   38  assistance to a recipient or subrecipient, as those terms are
   39  defined in s. 215.97, or that provides federal financial
   40  assistance to a subrecipient, as defined by applicable United
   41  States Office of Management and Budget circulars, must include
   42  all of the following:
   43         (h) If the agency agreement provides federal or state
   44  financial assistance to a county or municipality that is a rural
   45  community or rural area of opportunity, as those terms are
   46  defined in s. 288.0656(2), a provision that allows the agency to
   47  provide for the payment of invoices to the county or
   48  municipality for verified and eligible performance that has been
   49  completed in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth
   50  in the agreement. This provision is included to alleviate the
   51  financial hardships that certain rural counties and
   52  municipalities encounter when administering agreements, and must
   53  be exercised by the agency when a county or municipality
   54  demonstrates financial hardship, to the extent that federal or
   55  state law, rule, or other regulation allows such payments. This
   56  paragraph may not be construed to alter or limit any other
   57  provisions of federal or state law, rule, or other regulation.
   58         Section 2. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 288.018,
   59  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   60         288.018 Regional Rural Development Grants Program.—
   61         (1)(a) For the purposes of this section, the term “regional
   62  economic development organization” means an economic development
   63  organization located in or contracted to serve a rural area of
   64  opportunity, as defined in s. 288.0656(2)(d).
   65         (b) The department shall establish a matching grant program
   66  to provide funding to regional economic development
   67  organizations for the purpose of building the professional
   68  capacity of those organizations. Building the professional
   69  capacity of a regional economic development organization
   70  includes hiring professional staff to develop, deliver, and
   71  provide needed economic development professional services,
   72  including technical assistance, education and leadership
   73  development, marketing, and project recruitment. Matching Grants
   74  may also be used by a regional economic development organization
   75  to provide technical assistance to local governments, local
   76  economic development organizations, and existing and prospective
   77  businesses.
   78         (c) A regional economic development organization may apply
   79  annually to the department for a matching grant. The department
   80  is authorized to approve, on an annual basis, grants to such
   81  regional economic development organizations. The maximum amount
   82  an organization may receive in any year will be $50,000, or
   83  $250,000 for any three regional economic development
   84  organizations that serve an entire region of a rural area of
   85  opportunity designated pursuant to s. 288.0656(7) if they are
   86  recognized by the department as serving such a region.
   87         (d) Grant funds received by a regional economic development
   88  organization must be matched each year by nonstate resources in
   89  an amount equal to 25 percent of the state contribution.
   90         (2) In approving the participants, the department shall
   91  consider the demonstrated need of the applicant for assistance
   92  and require the following:
   93         (a) Documentation of official commitments of support from
   94  each of the units of local government represented by the
   95  regional organization.
   96         (b) Information about any financial or in-kind commitment
   97  to the regional organization by a Demonstration that each unit
   98  of local government or has made a financial or in-kind
   99  commitment to the regional organization.
  100         (c) Demonstration that the private sector has made
  101  financial or in-kind commitments to the regional organization.
  102         (c)(d) Demonstration that the organization is in existence
  103  and actively involved in economic development activities serving
  104  the region.
  105         (d)(e) Demonstration of the manner in which the
  106  organization is or will coordinate its efforts with those of
  107  other local and state organizations.
  108         Section 3. Subsection (1), paragraphs (b), (c), and (e) of
  109  subsection (2), and subsection (3) of section 288.0655, Florida
  110  Statutes, are amended to read:
  111         288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund.—
  112         (1) There is created within the department the Rural
  113  Infrastructure Fund to facilitate the planning, preparing, and
  114  financing of infrastructure projects in rural communities which
  115  will encourage job creation, capital investment, and the
  116  strengthening and diversification of rural economies by
  117  promoting tourism, trade, and economic development.
  118         (2)
  119         (b) To facilitate access of rural communities and rural
  120  areas of opportunity as defined by the Rural Economic
  121  Development Initiative to infrastructure funding programs of the
  122  Federal Government, such as those offered by the United States
  123  Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of
  124  Commerce, and state programs, including those offered by Rural
  125  Economic Development Initiative agencies, and to facilitate
  126  local government or private infrastructure funding efforts, the
  127  department may award grants for up to 75 50 percent of the total
  128  infrastructure project cost, or up to 100 percent of the total
  129  infrastructure project cost for a project located in a rural
  130  community as defined in s. 288.0656(2) which is also located in
  131  a fiscally constrained county as defined in s. 218.67(1) or a
  132  rural area of opportunity as defined in s. 288.0656(2). Eligible
  133  projects must be related to specific job-creation or job
  134  retention opportunities. Eligible uses of funds projects may
  135  also include improving any inadequate infrastructure that has
  136  resulted in regulatory action that prohibits economic or
  137  community growth, reducing the costs to community users of
  138  proposed infrastructure improvements that exceed such costs in
  139  comparable communities, and improving access to and the
  140  availability of broadband Internet service. Eligible uses of
  141  funds shall include improvements to public infrastructure for
  142  industrial or commercial sites, upgrades to or development of
  143  public tourism infrastructure, and improvements to broadband
  144  Internet service and access in unserved or underserved rural
  145  communities. Improvements to broadband Internet service and
  146  access must be conducted through a partnership or partnerships
  147  with one or more dealers, as defined in s. 202.11(2), and the
  148  partnership or partnerships must be established through a
  149  competitive selection process that is publicly noticed.
  150  Authorized infrastructure may include the following public or
  151  public-private partnership facilities: storm water systems;
  152  telecommunications facilities; broadband facilities; roads or
  153  other remedies to transportation impediments; nature-based
  154  tourism facilities; or other physical requirements necessary to
  155  facilitate tourism, trade, and economic development activities
  156  in the community. Authorized infrastructure may also include
  157  publicly or privately owned self-powered nature-based tourism
  158  facilities, publicly owned telecommunications facilities, and
  159  broadband facilities, and additions to the distribution
  160  facilities of the existing natural gas utility as defined in s.
  161  366.04(3)(c), the existing electric utility as defined in s.
  162  366.02, or the existing water or wastewater utility as defined
  163  in s. 367.021(12), or any other existing water or wastewater
  164  facility, which owns a gas or electric distribution system or a
  165  water or wastewater system in this state when where:
  166         1. A contribution-in-aid of construction is required to
  167  serve public or public-private partnership facilities under the
  168  tariffs of any natural gas, electric, water, or wastewater
  169  utility as defined herein; and
  170         2. Such utilities as defined herein are willing and able to
  171  provide such service.
  172         (c) To facilitate timely response and induce the location
  173  or expansion of specific job creating opportunities, The
  174  department may award grants of up to $300,000 for infrastructure
  175  feasibility studies, design and engineering activities, or other
  176  infrastructure planning and preparation activities. Authorized
  177  grants shall be up to $50,000 for an employment project with a
  178  business committed to create at least 100 jobs; up to $150,000
  179  for an employment project with a business committed to create at
  180  least 300 jobs; and up to $300,000 for a project in a rural area
  181  of opportunity. Grants awarded under this paragraph may be used
  182  in conjunction with grants awarded under paragraph (b), provided
  183  that the total amount of both grants does not exceed 30 percent
  184  of the total project cost. In evaluating applications under this
  185  paragraph, the department shall consider the extent to which the
  186  application seeks to minimize administrative and consultant
  187  expenses.
  188         (e) To enable local governments to access the resources
  189  available pursuant to s. 403.973(18), the department may award
  190  grants for surveys, feasibility studies, and other activities
  191  related to the identification and preclearance review of land
  192  which is suitable for preclearance review. Authorized grants
  193  under this paragraph may not exceed $75,000 each, except in the
  194  case of a project in a rural area of opportunity, in which case
  195  the grant may not exceed $300,000. Any funds awarded under this
  196  paragraph must be matched at a level of 50 percent with local
  197  funds, except that any funds awarded for a project in a rural
  198  area of opportunity do not require a match of must be matched at
  199  a level of 33 percent with local funds. If an application for
  200  funding is for a catalyst site, as defined in s. 288.0656, the
  201  requirement for local match may be waived pursuant to the
  202  process in s. 288.06561. In evaluating applications under this
  203  paragraph, the department shall consider the extent to which the
  204  application seeks to minimize administrative and consultant
  205  expenses.
  206         (3) The department, in consultation with Enterprise
  207  Florida, Inc., the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing
  208  Corporation, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the
  209  Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as
  210  appropriate, shall review and certify applications pursuant to
  211  s. 288.061. The review must shall include an evaluation of the
  212  economic benefit of the projects and their long-term viability.
  213  The department shall have final approval for any grant under
  214  this section.
  215         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.