SB 596 First Engrossed
2019596e1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to regional rural development grants;
3 amending s. 288.018, F.S.; defining the term “regional
4 economic development organization”; specifying that
5 the concept of building the professional capacity of a
6 regional economic development organization includes
7 the hiring of professional staff to perform specified
8 services; providing that matching grants may be used
9 to provide technical assistance to local governments
10 and economic development organizations and to existing
11 and prospective businesses; specifying that a regional
12 economic development organization that provides
13 taxpayer-funded incentives is not eligible to
14 participate in the matching grant program; increasing
15 the maximum amount of annual grant funding that
16 specified economic development organizations may
17 receive; revising the required amount of nonstate
18 matching funds; requiring that certain information be
19 included in a contract or agreement involving the
20 expenditure of grant funds; requiring that contracts
21 or agreements involving the expenditure of grant
22 funds, and a plain-language version of certain
23 contracts or agreements, be placed on the contracting
24 regional economic development organization’s website
25 for a specified period before execution; deleting an
26 obsolete provision; increasing the amount of funds the
27 Department of Economic Opportunity may expend each
28 fiscal year for certain purposes; amending s.
29 288.0655, F.S.; increasing the maximum percentage of
30 total infrastructure project costs for which the
31 department may award a grant; deleting a provision
32 authorizing a higher maximum percentage of total
33 infrastructure project costs for a catalyst site;
34 providing that deploying broadband Internet service to
35 certain areas may be included in a project that is
36 eligible for rural infrastructure grant funds;
37 defining the term “unserved rural community”;
38 requiring that improvements to broadband Internet
39 service and access be made through certain
40 partnerships, which must be established through a
41 competitive selection process; extending the date by
42 which the department is required to reevaluate certain
43 guidelines and criteria; requiring that certain
44 information be included in a contract or agreement
45 involving the expenditure of grant funds; requiring
46 that contracts or agreements involving the expenditure
47 of grant funds, and a plain-language version of
48 certain contracts or agreements, be placed on the
49 contracting regional economic development
50 organization’s website for a specified period before
51 execution; providing an effective date.
52
53 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
54
55 Section 1. Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of section
56 288.018, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
57 288.018 Regional Rural Development Grants Program.—
58 (1)(a) For the purposes of this section, a “regional
59 economic development organization” means an economic development
60 organization located in a rural area of opportunity, as defined
61 in s. 288.0656.
62 (b) The department shall establish a matching grant program
63 to provide funding to regional regionally based economic
64 development organizations representing rural counties and
65 communities to build for the purpose of building the
66 professional capacity of those their organizations. Efforts to
67 build the professional capacity of regional economic development
68 organizations include the hiring of professional staff to
69 develop, facilitate the delivery of, and directly provide needed
70 economic development professional services, including technical
71 assistance, education and leadership development, marketing, and
72 project recruitment. Such Matching grants may also be used by a
73 regional an economic development organization to provide
74 technical assistance to local governments, local economic
75 development organizations, and existing and prospective
76 businesses within the rural counties and communities that it
77 serves. A regional economic development organization that
78 provides taxpayer-funded incentives to existing or prospective
79 businesses is not eligible to participate in the matching grant
80 program.
81 (c) A regional economic development organization may apply
82 annually to the department for a matching grant. The department
83 is authorized to approve an application for a grant of:, on an
84 annual basis, grants
85 1. Up to $150,000 to an organization located to such
86 regionally based economic development organizations. The maximum
87 amount an organization may receive in any year will be $50,000,
88 or $150,000 in a rural area of opportunity designated pursuant
89 to s. 288.0656(7).
90 2. Up to $250,000 to any of the three regional economic
91 development organizations that serve an entire region of a rural
92 area of opportunity designated pursuant to s. 288.0656(7) and
93 that are recognized by the department as serving such a region.
94 (d) Grant funds received by a regional economic development
95 organization recommended by the Rural Economic Development
96 Initiative and designated by the Governor, and must be matched
97 each year by an equivalent amount of nonstate resources in an
98 amount equal to 25 percent of the state contribution.
99 (3)(a) A contract or agreement that involves the
100 expenditure of grant funds provided under this section,
101 including a contract or agreement entered into between another
102 entity and a regional economic development organization, a unit
103 of local government, or an economic development organization
104 substantially underwritten by a unit of local government, must
105 include:
106 1. The purpose of the contract or agreement.
107 2. Specific performance standards and responsibilities for
108 each entity.
109 3. A detailed project or contract budget, if applicable.
110 4. The value of any services provided.
111 5. The projected travel and entertainment expenses for
112 employees and board members, if applicable.
113 (b) At least 14 days before execution, the contracting
114 regional economic development organization shall post on its
115 website:
116 1. Any contract or agreement that involves the expenditure
117 of grant funds provided under this section.
118 2. A plain-language version of a contract or agreement with
119 a private entity, a municipality, or a vendor of services,
120 supplies, or programs, including marketing, or for the purchase
121 or lease or use of lands, facilities, or properties which
122 involves the expenditure of grant funds provided under this
123 section and which is estimated to exceed $35,000 The department
124 may also contract for the development of an enterprise zone web
125 portal or websites for each enterprise zone which will be used
126 to market the program for job creation in disadvantaged urban
127 and rural enterprise zones. Each enterprise zone web page should
128 include downloadable links to state forms and information, as
129 well as local message boards that help businesses and residents
130 receive information concerning zone boundaries, job openings,
131 zone programs, and neighborhood improvement activities.
132 (4) The department may expend up to $1 million $750,000
133 each fiscal year from funds appropriated to the Rural Community
134 Development Revolving Loan Fund for the purposes outlined in
135 this section. The department may contract with Enterprise
136 Florida, Inc., for the administration of the purposes specified
137 in this section. Funds released to Enterprise Florida, Inc., for
138 this purpose shall be released quarterly and shall be calculated
139 based on the applications in process.
140 Section 2. Present subsection (5) of section 288.0655,
141 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (6), paragraph
142 (b) of subsection (2) and subsection (4) of that section are
143 amended, and a new subsection (5) is added to that section, to
144 read:
145 288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund.—
146 (2)(b) To facilitate access of rural communities and rural
147 areas of opportunity as defined by the Rural Economic
148 Development Initiative to infrastructure funding programs of the
149 Federal Government, such as those offered by the United States
150 Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of
151 Commerce, and state programs, including those offered by Rural
152 Economic Development Initiative agencies, and to facilitate
153 local government or private infrastructure funding efforts, the
154 department may award grants for up to 50 30 percent of the total
155 infrastructure project cost. If an application for funding is
156 for a catalyst site, as defined in s. 288.0656, the department
157 may award grants for up to 40 percent of the total
158 infrastructure project cost. Eligible projects must be related
159 to specific job-creation or job-retention opportunities.
160 Eligible projects may also include improving any inadequate
161 infrastructure that has resulted in regulatory action that
162 prohibits economic or community growth or reducing the costs to
163 community users of proposed infrastructure improvements that
164 exceed such costs in comparable communities, including the costs
165 associated with improving access to and the availability of
166 broadband Internet service. Eligible uses of funds shall include
167 improvements to public infrastructure for industrial or
168 commercial sites, and upgrades to or development of public
169 tourism infrastructure, and deployment of broadband Internet
170 service and access in unserved rural communities. For the
171 purposes of this paragraph, the term “unserved rural community”
172 means a geographic area of this state, identified at the census
173 block level, in which there is not at least one provider of
174 broadband Internet service which offers a connection to the
175 Internet that provides capacity for transmission at an actual
176 speed of at least 10 megabits per second downstream and at least
177 1 megabit per second upstream. Improvements to broadband
178 Internet service and access must be made in partnership with one
179 or more dealers of communications services as defined in s.
180 202.11(2), and any such partnership must be established by a
181 publicly noticed competitive selection process. Authorized
182 infrastructure may include the following public or public
183 private partnership facilities: storm water systems;
184 telecommunications facilities; broadband facilities; roads or
185 other remedies to transportation impediments; nature-based
186 tourism facilities; or other physical requirements necessary to
187 facilitate tourism, trade, and economic development activities
188 in the community. Authorized infrastructure may also include
189 publicly or privately owned self-powered nature-based tourism
190 facilities, publicly owned telecommunications facilities, and
191 broadband facilities, and additions to the distribution
192 facilities of the existing natural gas utility as defined in s.
193 366.04(3)(c), the existing electric utility as defined in s.
194 366.02, or the existing water or wastewater utility as defined
195 in s. 367.021(12), or any other existing water or wastewater
196 facility, which owns a gas or electric distribution system or a
197 water or wastewater system in this state where:
198 1. A contribution-in-aid of construction is required to
199 serve public or public-private partnership facilities under the
200 tariffs of any natural gas, electric, water, or wastewater
201 utility as defined herein; and
202 2. Such utilities as defined herein are willing and able to
203 provide such service.
204 (4) By September 1, 2020 2012, the department shall, in
205 consultation with the organizations listed in subsection (3),
206 and other organizations, reevaluate existing guidelines and
207 criteria governing submission of applications for funding,
208 review and evaluation of such applications, and approval of
209 funding under this section. The department shall consider
210 factors including, but not limited to, the project’s potential
211 for enhanced job creation or increased capital investment, the
212 demonstration and level of local public and private commitment,
213 whether the project is located in an enterprise zone, in a
214 community development corporation service area, or in an urban
215 high-crime area as designated under s. 212.097, the unemployment
216 rate of the county in which the project would be located, and
217 the poverty rate of the community.
218 (5)(a) A contract or agreement that includes the
219 expenditure of grant funds provided under this section,
220 including a contract or agreement entered into between an entity
221 and a regional economic development organization, a unit of
222 local government, or an economic development organization
223 substantially underwritten by a unit of local government, must
224 include:
225 1. The purpose of the contract or agreement.
226 2. Specific performance standards and responsibilities for
227 each entity.
228 3. A detailed project or contract budget, if applicable.
229 4. The value of any services provided.
230 5. The projected travel and entertainment expenses for
231 employees and board members, if applicable.
232 (b) At least 14 days before execution, the contracting
233 regional economic development organization shall post on its
234 website:
235 1. Any contract or agreement that involves the expenditure
236 of grant funds provided under this section.
237 2. A plain-language version of a contract or agreement with
238 a private entity, a municipality, or a vendor of services,
239 supplies, or programs, including marketing, or for the purchase
240 or lease or use of lands, facilities, or properties which
241 involves the expenditure of grant funds provided under this
242 section and which is estimated to exceed $35,000.
243 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.