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.