Florida Senate - 2018                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1646
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì324048,Î324048                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and
       Economic Development (Montford) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of section
    6  288.018, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    7         288.018 Regional Rural Development Grants Program.—
    8         (1)(a) The department shall establish a matching grant
    9  program to provide funding to regional regionally based economic
   10  development organizations representing rural counties and
   11  communities to build for the purpose of building the
   12  professional capacity of such regional economic development
   13  their organizations. Building the professional capacity of
   14  regional economic development organizations includes hiring
   15  professional staff to develop, facilitate the delivery of, and
   16  directly provide needed economic development professional
   17  services, including technical assistance, education and
   18  leadership development, marketing and project recruitment, and
   19  other services that are important for rural economic
   20  development. Such Matching grants may also be used by a regional
   21  an economic development organization to provide technical
   22  assistance to local governments, local economic development
   23  organizations, and existing and prospective businesses within
   24  the rural counties and communities that it serves.
   25         (b)A regional economic development organization may apply
   26  to the department for a matching grant each year. The department
   27  is authorized to approve an application for a grant up to, on an
   28  annual basis, grants:
   29         1. Fifty thousand dollars to a regional economic
   30  development organization;
   31         2.One hundred fifty thousand dollars to an organization
   32  located to such regionally based economic development
   33  organizations. The maximum amount an organization may receive in
   34  any year will be $50,000, or $150,000 in a rural area of
   35  opportunity designated pursuant to s. 288.0656; or
   36         3. Two hundred fifty thousand dollars to any of the three
   37  regional economic development organizations that serve an entire
   38  region of a rural area of opportunity designated pursuant to s.
   39  288.0656 and that are recognized by the department as serving
   40  such regions.
   41         (c) Grant funds received by a regional economic development
   42  organization recommended by the Rural Economic Development
   43  Initiative and designated by the Governor, and must be matched
   44  each year by an equivalent amount of nonstate resources in an
   45  amount equal to 25 percent of the state contribution.
   46         (3)(a)A contract or agreement that involves the
   47  expenditure of grant funds provided under this section must be
   48  placed on the contracting regional economic development
   49  organization’s website at least 14 days before execution.
   50         (b)A contract or agreement that involves the expenditure
   51  of grant funds provided under this section, including a contract
   52  or agreement entered into between another entity and a regional
   53  economic development organization, a unit of local government,
   54  or an economic development organization substantially
   55  underwritten by a unit of local government, must include:
   56         1.The purpose of the contract or agreement.
   57         2.Specific performance standards and responsibilities for
   58  each entity.
   59         3.A detailed project or contract budget, if applicable.
   60         4.The value of any services provided.
   61         5.The projected travel and entertainment expenses for
   62  employees and board members, if applicable.
   63         (c)A plain language version of a contract or agreement
   64  with a private entity, a municipality, or a vendor of services,
   65  supplies, or programs, including marketing, or for the purchase
   66  or lease or use of lands, facilities, or properties which
   67  involves the expenditure of grant funds provided under this
   68  section and which is estimated to exceed $35,000 must be posted
   69  on the contracting regional economic development organization’s
   70  website The department may also contract for the development of
   71  an enterprise zone web portal or websites for each enterprise
   72  zone which will be used to market the program for job creation
   73  in disadvantaged urban and rural enterprise zones. Each
   74  enterprise zone web page should include downloadable links to
   75  state forms and information, as well as local message boards
   76  that help businesses and residents receive information
   77  concerning zone boundaries, job openings, zone programs, and
   78  neighborhood improvement activities.
   79         (4) The department may expend up to $1,000,000 $750,000
   80  each fiscal year from funds appropriated to the Rural Community
   81  Development Revolving Loan Fund for the purposes outlined in
   82  this section. The department may contract with Enterprise
   83  Florida, Inc., for the administration of the purposes specified
   84  in this section. Funds released to Enterprise Florida, Inc., for
   85  this purpose shall be released quarterly and shall be calculated
   86  based on the applications in process.
   87         Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 288.0655, Florida
   88  Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (6), paragraph (b) of
   89  subsection (2) and subsection (4) of that section are amended,
   90  and a new subsection (5) is added to that section, to read:
   91         288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund.—
   92         (2)(b) To facilitate access of rural communities and rural
   93  areas of opportunity as defined by the Rural Economic
   94  Development Initiative to infrastructure funding programs of the
   95  Federal Government, such as those offered by the United States
   96  Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of
   97  Commerce, and state programs, including those offered by Rural
   98  Economic Development Initiative agencies, and to facilitate
   99  local government or private infrastructure funding efforts, the
  100  department may award grants for up to 50 30 percent of the total
  101  infrastructure project cost. If an application for funding is
  102  for a catalyst site, as defined in s. 288.0656, the department
  103  may award grants for up to 40 percent of the total
  104  infrastructure project cost. Eligible projects must be related
  105  to specific job-creation or job-retention opportunities.
  106  Eligible projects may also include improving any inadequate
  107  infrastructure that has resulted in regulatory action that
  108  prohibits economic or community growth or reducing the costs to
  109  community users of proposed infrastructure improvements that
  110  exceed such costs in comparable communities, which includes
  111  improving access to and the availability of broadband Internet
  112  service. Eligible uses of funds shall include improvements to
  113  public infrastructure for industrial or commercial sites, and
  114  upgrades to or development of public tourism infrastructure, and
  115  improvements to broadband Internet service and access in
  116  unserved or underserved rural communities. Improvements to
  117  broadband Internet service and access must be conducted through
  118  a partnership or partnerships with one or more dealers of
  119  communications services, as defined in s. 202.11(2), and the
  120  partnership must be established by a publicly noticed and
  121  competitively selected process. Authorized infrastructure may
  122  include the following public or public-private partnership
  123  facilities: storm water systems; telecommunications facilities;
  124  broadband facilities; roads or other remedies to transportation
  125  impediments; nature-based tourism facilities; or other physical
  126  requirements necessary to facilitate tourism, trade, and
  127  economic development activities in the community. Authorized
  128  infrastructure may also include publicly or privately owned
  129  self-powered nature-based tourism facilities, publicly owned
  130  telecommunications facilities, and broadband facilities, and
  131  additions to the distribution facilities of the existing natural
  132  gas utility as defined in s. 366.04(3)(c), the existing electric
  133  utility as defined in s. 366.02, or the existing water or
  134  wastewater utility as defined in s. 367.021(12), or any other
  135  existing water or wastewater facility, which owns a gas or
  136  electric distribution system or a water or wastewater system in
  137  this state where:
  138         1. A contribution-in-aid of construction is required to
  139  serve public or public-private partnership facilities under the
  140  tariffs of any natural gas, electric, water, or wastewater
  141  utility as defined herein; and
  142         2. Such utilities as defined herein are willing and able to
  143  provide such service.
  144         (4) By September 1, 2019 2012, the department shall, in
  145  consultation with the organizations listed in subsection (3),
  146  and other organizations, reevaluate existing guidelines and
  147  criteria governing submission of applications for funding,
  148  review and evaluation of such applications, and approval of
  149  funding under this section. The department shall consider
  150  factors including, but not limited to, the project’s potential
  151  for enhanced job creation or increased capital investment, the
  152  demonstration and level of local public and private commitment,
  153  whether the project is located in an enterprise zone, in a
  154  community development corporation service area, or in an urban
  155  high-crime area as designated under s. 212.097, the unemployment
  156  rate of the county in which the project would be located, and
  157  the poverty rate of the community.
  158         (5)(a)A contract or agreement that involves the
  159  expenditure of grant funds provided under this section must be
  160  placed on the department’s website at least 14 days before
  161  execution.
  162         (b)A contract or agreement that includes the expenditure
  163  of grant funds provided under this section, including a contract
  164  or agreement entered into between an entity and a regional
  165  economic development organization, a unit of local government,
  166  or an economic development organization substantially
  167  underwritten by a unit of local government, must include:
  168         1.The purpose of the contract or agreement.
  169         2.Specific performance standards and responsibilities for
  170  each entity.
  171         3.A detailed project or contract budget, if applicable.
  172         4.The value of any services provided.
  173         5.The projected travel and entertainment expenses for
  174  employees and board members, if applicable.
  175         (c)A plain language version of a contract or agreement
  176  with a private entity, a municipality, or a vendor of services,
  177  supplies, or programs, including marketing, or for the purchase
  178  or lease or use of lands, facilities, or properties which
  179  involves the expenditure of grant funds provided under this
  180  section and which is estimated to exceed $35,000 must be posted
  181  on the department’s website.
  182         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
  183  
  184  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  185  And the title is amended as follows:
  186         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  187  and insert:
  188                        A bill to be entitled                      
  189         An act relating to regional rural development grants;
  190         amending s. 288.018, F.S.; providing that regional
  191         rural development grants may be used to hire regional
  192         economic development organization professional staff;
  193         authorizing the use of matching grant funds to provide
  194         technical assistance to certain entities; increasing
  195         the annual maximum amount of grant funding that
  196         specified economic development organizations may
  197         receive; revising the amount of nonstate matching
  198         funds required; increasing the amount the Department
  199         of Economic Opportunity may expend each fiscal year
  200         for the program; requiring that contracts or
  201         agreements involving the expenditure of grant funds be
  202         placed on a certain website for a specified time
  203         period; requiring that certain information be included
  204         in a contract or agreement involving the expenditure
  205         of grant funds; requiring that a plain language
  206         version of certain contracts or agreements be placed
  207         on a certain website; deleting an obsolete provision
  208         authorizing the Department of Economic Opportunity to
  209         contract for the development of certain enterprise
  210         zone web portals or websites; amending s. 288.0655,
  211         F.S.; increasing the maximum percent of total
  212         infrastructure project costs for which the department
  213         may award a grant; repealing a provision for increased
  214         maximum percent of total infrastructure project costs
  215         that may be awarded for a catalyst site; providing
  216         that improving access to and availability of broadband
  217         Internet service may be included in a project that is
  218         eligible for rural infrastructure grant funds;
  219         providing that grants for improvements to broadband
  220         Internet service and access must be conducted through
  221         certain partnerships; extending the date by which the
  222         department is required to reevaluate certain
  223         guidelines and criteria; requiring that contracts or
  224         agreements involving the expenditure of grant funds be
  225         placed on a certain website for a specified time
  226         period; requiring that certain information be included
  227         in a contract or agreement involving the expenditure
  228         of grant funds; requiring that a plain language
  229         version of certain contracts or agreements be placed
  230         on a certain website; providing an effective date.