Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1646
By Senator Montford
3-01588-18 20181646__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to regional rural development grants;
3 amending s. 288.018, F.S.; providing that regional
4 rural development grants may be used to hire regional
5 economic development organization professional staff;
6 authorizing the use of matching grant funds to provide
7 technical assistance to certain entities; increasing
8 the annual maximum amount of grant funding that
9 specified economic development organizations may
10 receive; revising the amount of nonstate matching
11 funds required; requiring that contracts or agreements
12 involving the expenditure of grant funds be placed on
13 a certain website for a specified time period;
14 requiring that certain information be included in a
15 contract or agreement involving the expenditure of
16 grant funds; requiring that a plain language version
17 of certain contracts or agreements be placed on a
18 certain website; deleting a provision authorizing the
19 Department of Economic Opportunity to contract for the
20 development of certain enterprise zone web portals or
21 websites; amending s. 288.0655, F.S.; providing that
22 improving access to and availability of broadband
23 Internet service may be included in a project that is
24 eligible for rural infrastructure grant funds;
25 extending the date by which the department is required
26 to reevaluate certain guidelines and criteria;
27 revising the factors that the department must consider
28 when awarding grant funds; requiring that contracts or
29 agreements involving the expenditure of grant funds be
30 placed on a certain website for a specified time
31 period; requiring that certain information be included
32 in a contract or agreement involving the expenditure
33 of grant funds; requiring that a plain language
34 version of certain contracts or agreements be placed
35 on a certain website; providing an effective date.
36
37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39 Section 1. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 288.018,
40 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
41 288.018 Regional Rural Development Grants Program.—
42 (1) The department shall establish a matching grant program
43 to provide funding to regional regionally based economic
44 development organizations representing rural counties and
45 communities to build for the purpose of building the
46 professional capacity of such regional economic development
47 their organizations. Building the professional capacity of
48 regional economic development organizations includes hiring
49 professional staff to develop, facilitate the delivery of, and
50 directly provide needed economic development professional
51 services, including technical assistance, education and
52 leadership development, marketing and project recruitment, and
53 other services that are important for rural economic
54 development. Such Matching grants may also be used by a regional
55 an economic development organization to provide technical
56 assistance to local governments, local economic development
57 organizations, and existing and prospective businesses within
58 the rural counties and communities that it serves. The
59 department is authorized to approve, on an annual basis, grants
60 to such regional regionally based economic development
61 organizations. The maximum amount an organization may receive in
62 any year is will be $50,000, or $250,000 for each of the three
63 regional economic development organizations serving rural areas
64 of opportunity designated pursuant to s. 288.0656. The three
65 regional economic development organizations include the North
66 Florida Economic Development Partnership, Opportunity Florida,
67 and Florida’s Heartland Regional $150,000 in a rural area of
68 opportunity recommended by the Rural Economic Development
69 Initiative, Inc. Grant funds received by a regional economic
70 development organization and designated by the Governor, and
71 must be matched each year by an equivalent amount of nonstate
72 resources in an amount equal to 25 percent of the state
73 contribution.
74 (3)(a) A contract or agreement that involves the
75 expenditure of grant funds provided under this section must be
76 placed on the contracting regional economic development
77 organization’s website for review at least 14 days before
78 execution.
79 (b) A contract or agreement that involves the expenditure
80 of grant funds provided under this section, including a contract
81 or agreement entered into between another entity and a regional
82 economic development organization, a unit of local government,
83 or an economic development organization substantially
84 underwritten by a unit of local government, must include:
85 1. The purpose of the contract or agreement.
86 2. Specific performance standards and responsibilities for
87 each entity.
88 3. A detailed project or contract budget, if applicable.
89 4. The value of any services provided.
90 5. The projected travel and entertainment expenses for
91 employees and board members, if applicable.
92 (c) A plain language version of a contract or agreement
93 with a private entity, a municipality, or a vendor of services,
94 supplies, or programs, including marketing, or for the purchase
95 or lease or use of lands, facilities, or properties which
96 involves the expenditure of grant funds provided under this
97 section and which is estimated to exceed $35,000 must be posted
98 on the contracting regional economic development organization’s
99 website The department may also contract for the development of
100 an enterprise zone web portal or websites for each enterprise
101 zone which will be used to market the program for job creation
102 in disadvantaged urban and rural enterprise zones. Each
103 enterprise zone web page should include downloadable links to
104 state forms and information, as well as local message boards
105 that help businesses and residents receive information
106 concerning zone boundaries, job openings, zone programs, and
107 neighborhood improvement activities.
108 Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 288.0655, Florida
109 Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (6), paragraph (b) of
110 subsection (2) and subsection (4) of that section are amended,
111 and a new subsection (5) is added to that section, to read:
112 288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund.—
113 (2)(b) To facilitate access of rural communities and rural
114 areas of opportunity as defined by the Rural Economic
115 Development Initiative to infrastructure funding programs of the
116 Federal Government, such as those offered by the United States
117 Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of
118 Commerce, and state programs, including those offered by Rural
119 Economic Development Initiative agencies, and to facilitate
120 local government or private infrastructure funding efforts, the
121 department may award grants for up to 30 percent of the total
122 infrastructure project cost. If an application for funding is
123 for a catalyst site, as defined in s. 288.0656, the department
124 may award grants for up to 40 percent of the total
125 infrastructure project cost. Eligible projects must be related
126 to specific job-creation or job-retention opportunities.
127 Eligible projects may also include improving any inadequate
128 infrastructure that has resulted in regulatory action that
129 prohibits economic or community growth or reducing the costs to
130 community users of proposed infrastructure improvements that
131 exceed such costs in comparable communities, which includes
132 improving access to and the availability of broadband Internet
133 service. Eligible uses of funds shall include improvements to
134 public infrastructure for industrial or commercial sites, and
135 upgrades to or development of public tourism infrastructure, and
136 improvements to broadband Internet service and access in
137 unserved or underserved rural communities. Authorized
138 infrastructure may include the following public or public
139 private partnership facilities: storm water systems;
140 telecommunications facilities; broadband facilities; roads or
141 other remedies to transportation impediments; nature-based
142 tourism facilities; or other physical requirements necessary to
143 facilitate tourism, trade, and economic development activities
144 in the community. Authorized infrastructure may also include
145 publicly or privately owned self-powered nature-based tourism
146 facilities, publicly owned telecommunications facilities, and
147 broadband facilities, and additions to the distribution
148 facilities of the existing natural gas utility as defined in s.
149 366.04(3)(c), the existing electric utility as defined in s.
150 366.02, or the existing water or wastewater utility as defined
151 in s. 367.021(12), or any other existing water or wastewater
152 facility, which owns a gas or electric distribution system or a
153 water or wastewater system in this state where:
154 1. A contribution-in-aid of construction is required to
155 serve public or public-private partnership facilities under the
156 tariffs of any natural gas, electric, water, or wastewater
157 utility as defined herein; and
158 2. Such utilities as defined herein are willing and able to
159 provide such service.
160 (4) By September 1, 2019 2012, the department shall, in
161 consultation with the organizations listed in subsection (3),
162 and other organizations, reevaluate existing guidelines and
163 criteria governing submission of applications for funding,
164 review and evaluation of such applications, and approval of
165 funding under this section. The department shall consider
166 factors including, but not limited to, the project’s potential
167 for enhanced job creation or increased capital investment, the
168 demonstration and level of local public and private commitment,
169 whether the project is located in an enterprise zone, in a
170 community development corporation service area, or in an urban
171 high-crime area as designated under s. 212.097, the unemployment
172 rate of the county in which the project would be located, and
173 the poverty rate of the community.
174 (5)(a) A contract or agreement that involves the
175 expenditure of grant funds provided under this section must be
176 placed on the department’s website for review at least 14 days
177 before execution.
178 (b) A contract or agreement that includes the expenditure
179 of grant funds provided under this section, including a contract
180 or agreement entered into between an entity and a regional
181 economic development organization, a unit of local government,
182 or an economic development organization substantially
183 underwritten by a unit of local government, must include:
184 1. The purpose of the contract or agreement.
185 2. Specific performance standards and responsibilities for
186 each entity.
187 3. A detailed project or contract budget, if applicable.
188 4. The value of any services provided.
189 5. The projected travel and entertainment expenses for
190 employees and board members, if applicable.
191 (c) A plain language version of a contract or agreement
192 with a private entity, a municipality, or a vendor of services,
193 supplies, or programs, including marketing, or for the purchase
194 or lease or use of lands, facilities, or properties which
195 involves the expenditure of grant funds provided under this
196 section and which is estimated to exceed $35,000 must be posted
197 on the department’s website.
198 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.