House Bill 0639
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 639
By Representatives Ritchie, J. Miller, Bense, Stansel,
Gottlieb, Melvin, Rayson, Barreiro, Patterson, Hafner,
Frankel, Effman, C. Smith, Greenstein, Russell, Byrd, L.
Miller, Dennis, Henriquez, Hart, Fiorentino and Arnall
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to military base retention;
3 amending s. 288.980, F.S.; providing
4 Legislative intent; providing for the role of
5 the Florida Defense Alliance; providing
6 funding; removing a limitation on the amount of
7 a grant under the Florida Military Installation
8 Reuse Planning and Marketing Grant Program;
9 increasing a grant limitation with respect to
10 the Florida Defense Planning Grant Program;
11 reducing the amount of matching funds required
12 under certain grant programs; providing a cap
13 on the payment of administrative expenses from
14 certain grants; providing an appropriation;
15 providing an effective date.
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17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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19 Section 1. Section 288.980, Florida Statutes, 1998
20 Supplement, is amended to read:
21 288.980 Military base retention; legislative intent;
22 grants program.--
23 (1)(a) It is the intent of this state to provide the
24 necessary means to assist communities with military
25 installations that would be adversely affected by federal base
26 realignment or closure actions. It is further the intent to
27 encourage communities to initiate a coordinated program of
28 response and plan of action in advance of future actions of
29 the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission. It is
30 critical that closure-vulnerable communities develop such a
31 program to preserve affected military installations. The
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 639
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1 Legislature hereby recognizes that the state needs to
2 coordinate all efforts that can facilitate the retention of
3 all remaining military installations in the state. The
4 Legislature, therefore, declares that providing such
5 assistance to support the defense-related initiatives within
6 this section is a public purpose for which public money may be
7 used.
8 (b) The Florida Defense Alliance, an organization
9 within Enterprise Florida is hereby directed as the
10 organization to ensure Florida, its resident military bases
11 and missions, and its military host communities are in
12 competitive positions as the United States continues its
13 defense realignment and downsizing. The defense alliance shall
14 serve as an overall advisory body for Enterprise Florida
15 defense related activity. The Florida Defense Alliance shall
16 receive funding from appropriations for that purpose
17 administered by the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic
18 Development.
19 (2)(a) The Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic
20 Development is authorized to award grants from any funds
21 available to it to support activities related to the retention
22 of military installations potentially affected by federal base
23 closure or realignment.
24 (b) The term "activities" as used in this section
25 means studies, presentations, analyses, plans, and modeling.
26 Travel and costs incidental thereto, and Staff salaries, are
27 not considered an "activity" for which grant funds may be
28 awarded. Travel costs and costs incidental thereto incurred by
29 a grant recipient shall be considered an "activity" for which
30 grant funds may be awarded.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 639
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1 (c) Except for grants issued pursuant to the Florida
2 Military Installation Reuse Planning and Marketing Grant
3 Program as described in (3)(b), the amount of any grant
4 provided to an applicant may not exceed $250,000. The Office
5 of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development shall require that
6 an applicant:
7 1. Represent a local government with a military
8 installation or military installations that could be adversely
9 affected by federal base realignment or closure.
10 2. Agree to match at least 30 50 percent of any grant
11 awarded.
12 3. Prepare a coordinated program or plan of action
13 delineating how the eligible project will be administered and
14 accomplished.
15 4. Provide documentation describing the potential for
16 realignment or closure of a military installation located in
17 the applicant's community and the adverse impacts such
18 realignment or closure will have on the applicant's community.
19 (d) In making grant awards the office shall consider,
20 at a minimum, the following factors:
21 1. The relative value of the particular military
22 installation in terms of its importance to the local and state
23 economy relative to other military installations vulnerable to
24 closure.
25 2. The potential job displacement within the local
26 community should the military installation be closed.
27 3. The potential adverse impact on industries and
28 technologies which service the military installation.
29 (3) The Florida Economic Reinvestment Initiative is
30 established to respond to the need for this state and
31 defense-dependent communities in this state to develop
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1 alternative economic diversification strategies to lessen
2 reliance on national defense dollars in the wake of base
3 closures and reduced federal defense expenditures and the need
4 to formulate specific base reuse plans and identify any
5 specific infrastructure needed to facilitate reuse. The
6 initiative shall consist of the following three distinct grant
7 programs to be administered by the Office of Tourism, Trade,
8 and Economic Development:
9 (a) The Florida Defense Planning Grant Program,
10 through which funds shall be used to analyze the extent to
11 which the state is dependent on defense dollars and defense
12 infrastructure and prepare alternative economic development
13 strategies. The state shall work in conjunction with
14 defense-dependent communities in developing strategies and
15 approaches that will help communities make the transition from
16 a defense economy to a nondefense economy. Grant awards may
17 not exceed $250,000 $100,000 per applicant and shall be
18 available on a competitive basis.
19 (b) The Florida Defense Implementation Grant Program,
20 through which funds shall be made available to
21 defense-dependent communities to implement the diversification
22 strategies developed pursuant to paragraph (a). Eligible
23 applicants include defense-dependent counties and cities, and
24 local economic development councils located within such
25 communities. Grant awards may not exceed $100,000 per
26 applicant and shall be available on a competitive basis.
27 Awards shall be matched on a one-to-one basis.
28 (c) The Florida Military Installation Reuse Planning
29 and Marketing Grant Program, through which funds shall be used
30 to help counties, cities, and local economic development
31 councils develop and implement plans for the reuse of closed
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1 or realigned military installations, including any necessary
2 infrastructure improvements needed to facilitate reuse and
3 related marketing activities. Grant awards are limited to not
4 more than $100,000 per eligible applicant and made available
5 through a competitive process. Awards shall be matched on a
6 one-to-one basis.
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8 Applications for grants under this subsection must include a
9 coordinated program of work or plan of action delineating how
10 the eligible project will be administered and accomplished,
11 which must include a plan for ensuring close cooperation
12 between civilian and military authorities in the conduct of
13 the funded activities and a plan for public involvement.
14 (4)(a) The Defense-Related Business Adjustment Program
15 is hereby created. The Director of the Office of Tourism,
16 Trade, and Economic Development shall coordinate the
17 development of the Defense-Related Business Adjustment
18 Program. Funds shall be available to assist defense-related
19 companies in the creation of increased commercial technology
20 development through investments in technology. Such
21 technology must have a direct impact on critical state needs
22 for the purpose of generating investment-grade technologies
23 and encouraging the partnership of the private sector and
24 government defense-related business adjustment. The following
25 areas shall receive precedence in consideration for funding
26 commercial technology development: law enforcement or
27 corrections, environmental protection, transportation,
28 education, and health care. Travel and costs incidental
29 thereto, and staff salaries, are not considered an "activity"
30 for which grant funds may be awarded.
31 (b) The office shall require that an applicant:
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1 1. Be a defense-related business that could be
2 adversely affected by federal base realignment or closure or
3 reduced defense expenditures.
4 2. Agree to match at least 50 percent of any funds
5 awarded by the department in cash or in-kind services. Such
6 match shall be directly related to activities for which the
7 funds are being sought.
8 3. Prepare a coordinated program or plan delineating
9 how the funds will be administered.
10 4. Provide documentation describing how
11 defense-related realignment or closure will adversely impact
12 defense-related companies.
13 (5) The director may award nonfederal matching funds
14 specifically appropriated for construction, maintenance, and
15 analysis of a Florida defense workforce database. Such funds
16 will be used to create a registry of worker skills that can be
17 used to match the worker needs of companies that are
18 relocating to this state or to assist workers in relocating to
19 other areas within this state where similar or related
20 employment is available.
21 (6) Payment of administrative expenses shall be
22 limited to no more than 10 percent of any grants issued
23 pursuant to this section.
24 (7)(6) The Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic
25 Development shall establish guidelines to implement and carry
26 out the purpose and intent of this section.
27 Section 2. There is hereby appropriated from the
28 General Revenue Fund to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and
29 Economic Development the sum of $20 million to implement the
30 grants programs as described in s. 288.980, Florida Statutes.
31 The $20 million in funding provided pursuant to this section
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 639
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1 is critical in assisting the improvement or upgrade of
2 infrastructure (roads, water supply, power grids,
3 communication nets, etc.) around the state's military bases
4 which will be measured in the next round of military base
5 closures. It is the specific intent of the Legislature that a
6 portion of this appropriation be expended to employ a
7 consultant to evaluate the infrastructure needs of Florida
8 military bases in order to provide a baseline and order of
9 priority for the disbursement of funds. This appropriation is
10 in addition to any funds currently available for grants to
11 help local communities.
12 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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15 HOUSE SUMMARY
16
Revises a provision of law governing military base
17 retention in the state to provide Legislative intent, to
provide for the role of the Florida Defense Alliance, to
18 remove a limitation on the amount of a grant under the
Florida Military Installation Reuse Planning and
19 Marketing Grant Program, to increase the amount of grants
under the Florida Defense Planning Grant Program, to
20 reduce the amount of match required by persons seeking a
grant with respect to military base retention, and to
21 provide a limitation on the amount of funds which may be
expended from awarded grants for administrative expenses.
22 Appropriates the sum of $20 million from the General
Revenue Fund to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and
23 Economic Development to carry out grant programs as
described in s. 288.980, Florida Statutes. See bill for
24 details.
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