Government Affairs Report September 2013

The following topics have been identified by the GAC as legislative items that influence the practice of landscape architecture in Florida or are topics that may be of interest. The schedule for the 2014 session is also posted below.

If you have questions or would like to get involved in assisting the Chapter with advocacy, licensure issues, and other legislative concerns, please contact Jonathan Haigh, Member at Large for Advocacy and Licensure at: memberatlargeAL@flalsa.org

The Governor began a tour of Florida today, calling for $500 million in tax cuts and seeking public input as to where the cuts should be made. The "It’s Your Money" tax relief tour will include stops in West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale today, as well as stops in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa later this week. Legislative leaders began weighing in on cuts this week as well. Senator Joe Negron, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, has proposed to reduce vehicle registration fees by $230 million. These fees were increased in 2009 during the economic recession. Senator Dorothy Hukill, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, has stated that she has three priorities for cutting taxes. Her priorities include reducing the number of businesses subject to the state’s corporate income tax, reducing the sales tax on commercial leases, and reducing the communications services tax, which is a tax paid on cell phones and cable. Rep. Seth McKeel, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, issued a statement on Monday that he is open to discussing any tax relief proposals his members put on the table.

The Senate Select Committee on Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin held its first hearing in August. The discussion largely centered around the need for more state and federal funding for water storage. There was also a significant amount of discussion relating to septic tanks and fertilizer use in the area. The Select Committee was created by Senate President Don Gaetz (R – Niceville) in July after several dolphin, manatee, and pelican deaths were reported in the Indian River Lagoon. The Select Committee chair, Sen. Joe Negron (R – Stuart) pressed for short-term actions that can be taken to deal with the quantity of water being discharged from Lake Okeechobee to prevent beaching the Herbert Hoover Dike. Col. Alan Dodd, District Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville (Corps), stated that the Corps is currently implementing a management system that was developed in 2008 and that it would be reevaluated over time, but not immediately. He said, "What we cannot do is spend two years building a system and keep making changes based on the pressures of the day." However, the Corps is currently working under interim operational standards and is working with state and local agencies on revised permanent operational standards, which should be completed in the coming weeks.

The Select Committee meets again in Tallahassee during the September and October committee weeks. Sen. Negron has identified four short-term items that will be addressed. Those include:

•Reevaluating the 2008 risk assessment that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uses to determine releases from Lake Okeechobee;

•Water storage;

•A legal evaluation of how a declaration of a state of emergency would impact Florida’s ability to work with the federal                           government to address the ongoing releases; and

•An investigation of how septic tanks can be addressed in a manner that is consistent with the rights of property owners.

Some have already begun to speculate that the Select Committee’s work will result in legislation dealing with water supply, water quality or both. This is happening amidst several other ongoing discussions related to both water supply and quality, notably an ongoing debate as to how to fund water projects. There may be some renewed willingness among legislators to fund water projects through the water management districts (this is commonly referred to as "funding SB 444," legislation passed by Sen. Paula Dockery in 2005 that established recurring funding for water supply). However, there has been some resistance to this approach, with others more supportive of continuing to fund "member projects" as was done last legislative session. Advocates for so-called SB 444 funding believe that funding projects through the water management districts removes politics from the process, while still leaving executive oversight and accountability in place. The Governor’s Office has yet to formally weigh in on this discussion, but criteria developed by the Governor’s Office were used to fund member projects last session. The Governor has vetoed many water projects included in the state budget each year and has stated that only projects resulting in a true regional or statewide benefit should be funded by the state.

Florida’s unemployment rate held steady at 7.1 percent in July for the third straight month. Florida added 27,600 jobs during July. The unemployment rate remains the lowest since September 2008. Florida’s 12-month job growth rate is 1.9 percent, above the national rate of 1.7 percent.

Florida’s housing trend continued to improve in July, according to a report released by the Florida Realtors. Sales and prices for homes and condos rose in the year-over-year comparison. During this timeframe, sales of existing single-family homes rose 20.9 percent and the median sales price rose 18.5 percent. Condo sales increased by 16.8 percent and the median sales price rose 21.9 percent.  

However, Florida’s rate of foreclosure filings remained the highest in the country in July, with one in every 328 units receiving a filing. Florida’s numbers are up 8 percent from June and up 7 percent compared to July 2012.

A national report issued in August indicates that Floridians have received $9.2 billion from the national mortgage settlement and that 120,000 Floridians have received aid so far. The report also indicates that most of the $9.2 billion came from lenders forgiving loans or liens in order to facilitate the sale of homes.

On Wednesday, the Governor announced four appointments and one reappointment to the Board of Landscape Architecture. New appointees include:

• Richard Conant (Orlando) – Owner, Foster Conant Associates

• Tiffany Cruz (Tallahassee) – Attorney, Marie Mattox PA

• Michael Kroll (Weston) – Vice-President, Miller Legg

• Phillip Smith (Sarasota) – President, David W. Johnston Associates Inc.

Joseph Delate (Marco Island), Senior Project Manager for Collier County Transportation Engineering, was reappointed to a second term. All five appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. There has been some confusion as to the length of these terms. The Conant, Cruz, and Smith appointments expire Oct. 31 of this year. However, they will be reappointed to a second term. The Kroll term expires Oct. 31, 2016. The Delate term expires Oct. 31, 2015.