HB 7213

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the Quick Action Closing Fund; amending
3s. 288.1088, F.S.; providing eligibility criteria for
4receipt of funds; requiring Enterprise Florida, Inc., to
5determine eligibility using specified criteria; providing
6for waiver of eligibility criteria under certain
7circumstances; requiring the Governor to provide
8evaluations of certain projects to the President of the
9Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
10providing an appropriation; providing an effective date.
11
12Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14     Section 1.  Subsection (2) and paragraphs (a) and (b) of
15subsection (3) of section 288.1088, Florida Statutes, are
16amended to read:
17     288.1088  Quick Action Closing Fund.--
18     (2)  There is created within the Office of Tourism, Trade,
19and Economic Development the Quick Action Closing Fund. Projects
20eligible for receipt of funds from the Quick Action Closing Fund
21shall:
22     (a)  Be in a targeted industry as referenced in s. 288.106.
23     (b)  Have a positive payback ratio of at least 5 to 1.
24     (c)  Be an inducement to the project's location or
25expansion in the state.
26     (d)  Pay an average annual wage of at least 125 percent of
27the areawide or statewide private-sector average wage.
28     (e)  Be supported by the local community in which the
29project is to be located.
30     (3)(a)  Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall determine
31eligibility of each project consistent with the criteria in
32subsection (2). Enterprise Florida, Inc., in consultation with
33the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development, may
34waive these criteria based on extraordinary circumstances when
35the project would significantly benefit the local or regional
36economy. Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall evaluate individual
37proposals for high-impact business facilities and forward
38recommendations regarding the use of moneys in the fund for such
39facilities to the director of the Office of Tourism, Trade, and
40Economic Development. Such evaluation and recommendation must
41include, but need not be limited to:
42     1.  A description of the type of facility or
43infrastructure, its operations, and the associated product or
44service associated with the facility.
45     2.  The number of full-time-equivalent jobs that will be
46created by the facility and the total estimated average annual
47wages of those jobs or, in the case of privately developed rural
48infrastructure, the types of business activities and jobs
49stimulated by the investment.
50     3.  The cumulative amount of investment to be dedicated to
51the facility within a specified period.
52     4.  A statement of any special impacts the facility is
53expected to stimulate in a particular business sector in the
54state or regional economy or in the state's universities and
55community colleges.
56     5.  A statement of the role the incentive is expected to
57play in the decision of the applicant business to locate or
58expand in this state or for the private investor to provide
59critical rural infrastructure.
60     (b)  Upon receipt of the evaluation and recommendation from
61Enterprise Florida, Inc., the director shall recommend approval
62or disapproval of a project for receipt of funds from the Quick
63Action Closing Fund to the Governor. In recommending a project,
64the director shall include proposed performance conditions that
65the project must meet to obtain incentive funds. The Governor
66shall provide the evaluations of projects recommended for
67approval to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
68House of Representatives and consult directly with the President
69of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
70before giving final approval for a project. The Executive Office
71of the Governor shall recommend approval of a project and the
72release of funds pursuant to the legislative consultation and
73review requirements set forth in s. 216.177. The recommendation
74must include proposed performance conditions that the project
75must meet in order to obtain funds.
76     Section 2.  There is appropriated $50 million from
77nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund in fiscal year
782006-2007 to the Quick Action Closing Fund for the 2006-2007
79fiscal year.
80     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.