Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 426
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       The Committee on Transportation (Boyd) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 66 - 96
    4  and insert:
    5         311.25Regulation of commerce in Florida seaports.—
    6         (1)(a)A local ballot initiative or referendum may not
    7  restrict maritime commerce in the seaports of this state,
    8  including, but not limited to, restricting such commerce based
    9  on any of the following:
   10         1.Vessel type, size, number, or capacity.
   11         2.Number, origin, nationality, embarkation, or
   12  disembarkation of passengers or crew or their entry into this
   13  state or any local jurisdiction.
   14         3.Source, type, loading, or unloading of cargo.
   15         4.Environmental or health records of a particular vessel
   16  or vessel line.
   17         (b)Any local ballot initiative or referendum, or any local
   18  law, charter amendment, ordinance, resolution, regulation, or
   19  policy adopted in a local ballot initiative or referendum, in
   20  violation of this subsection which was adopted before, on, or
   21  after the effective date of this act is prohibited and void.
   22         (2)(a)Except for a municipality that is also a county as
   23  defined in s. 125.011(1), a municipality or political
   24  subdivision thereof or a special district within the boundaries
   25  of a single municipality may not restrict maritime commerce in
   26  the seaports of this state with respect to any federally
   27  authorized passenger cruise vessel based on any of the
   28  following:
   29         1.Vessel type, size, number, or capacity, except when the
   30  port is physically unable to accommodate a passenger cruise
   31  vessel pursuant to applicable federal or state laws or
   32  regulations.
   33         2.Number, origin, nationality, embarkation, or
   34  disembarkation of passengers or crew or their entry into this
   35  state or any local jurisdiction.
   36         3.Source, type, loading, or unloading of cargo related or
   37  incidental to its use as a passenger cruise vessel.
   38         4.Environmental or health records of a particular
   39  passenger cruise vessel or cruise line.
   40         (b)Any provision of a law, a charter, an ordinance, a
   41  resolution, a regulation, a policy, an initiative, or a
   42  referendum which is in conflict with this subsection and which
   43  existed before, on, or after the effective date of this act is
   44  prohibited and void.
   45         Section 2. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
   46  replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
   47  occurs in this act with the date this act becomes a law.
   48  
   49  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   50  And the title is amended as follows:
   51         Delete lines 3 - 60
   52  and insert:
   53         regulations; creating s. 311.25, F.S.; prohibiting a
   54         local ballot initiative or referendum from restricting
   55         maritime commerce in the seaports of this state;
   56         providing that certain local initiatives or
   57         referendums relating to such restrictions are
   58         prohibited and void; prohibiting certain
   59         municipalities and municipal special districts from
   60         adopting specified restrictions or regulations on
   61         maritime commerce in the seaports of this state with
   62         respect to any federally authorized passenger cruise
   63         vessel; providing that certain local actions relating
   64         to such restrictions or regulations are prohibited and
   65         void; providing a directive to the Division of Law
   66         Revision; providing an effective date.
   67  
   68         WHEREAS, maritime commerce between and among seaports, both
   69  foreign and domestic, is the subject of extensive federal and
   70  state regulation designed to protect the marine environment and
   71  the health, safety, and welfare of the general public and those
   72  involved in conducting that commerce, and
   73         WHEREAS, the economic impact of a seaport extends far
   74  beyond the boundaries of the local jurisdiction in which the
   75  port is located, materially contributing to the economies of
   76  multiple cities and counties within the region and to the
   77  economy of this state as a whole, and
   78         WHEREAS, Florida seaports currently generate nearly 900,000
   79  direct and indirect jobs and contribute $117.6 billion in
   80  economic value to this state through cargo and cruise
   81  activities, accounting for approximately 13 percent of this
   82  state’s gross domestic product and $4.2 billion in state and
   83  local taxes, and
   84         WHEREAS, because this state is a peninsula, much of this
   85  state is highly dependent upon the unimpeded flow of maritime
   86  commerce through its seaports, which is made even more critical
   87  when this state is threatened or impacted by natural disasters,
   88  such as tropical storms and hurricanes, and
   89         WHEREAS, because of its geographic location, this state is
   90  a hub for global maritime commerce and is uniquely positioned to
   91  capture an even larger share of this commerce as global trade
   92  routes shift, and
   93         WHEREAS, the international, national, statewide, and
   94  regional importance of Florida seaports has long been recognized
   95  in federal and state law with respect to the regulation,
   96  planning, and public financing of seaport operations and
   97  facilities, and
   98         WHEREAS, this state is widely known as the cruise capital
   99  of the world, and the cruise industry is vital to this state’s
  100  economy, contributing more than $9 billion in direct spending on
  101  an annual basis and supporting 159,000 jobs with more than $8
  102  billion in total wages and salaries before the current pandemic,
  103  and
  104         WHEREAS, 8.3 million passengers boarded cruises from one of
  105  this state’s five cruise ports in 2019, accounting for 60
  106  percent of embarkations in the United States, generating 11
  107  million passenger and crew onshore visits in both home port and
  108  transit port calls in this state, and
  109         WHEREAS, allowing a voter initiative or referendum in each
  110  local seaport jurisdiction to impose its own requirements on the
  111  maritime commerce conducted in that port could result in abrupt
  112  changes in the supply lines bringing goods into and out of this
  113  state and therefore could reasonably be expected to suppress
  114  such commerce and potentially drive it out of the port and out
  115  of this state in search of a more consistent and predictable
  116  operating environment, thus disrupting this state’s economy and
  117  threatening the public’s health, safety, and welfare, and
  118         WHEREAS, allowing a voter initiative or referendum in each
  119  local seaport jurisdiction to impose its own requirements on the
  120  maritime commerce conducted in that port could result in abrupt
  121  changes in vessel traffic, frustrating the multiyear planning
  122  process for all Florida seaports and the assumptions and
  123  forecasts underlying federal and state financing of port
  124  improvement projects, and
  125         WHEREAS, there are similar concerns regarding the capacity
  126  of a municipality or municipal special district to impose such
  127  requirements on the maritime commerce conducted in a port, as
  128  the more limited geographic and political scope of a
  129  municipality or municipal special district may make such entity
  130  less sensitive to the negative impact of such requirements on
  131  neighboring municipalities and on the county, region, and state,
  132  and
  133         WHEREAS, many local economies in this state depend heavily
  134  on tourism, on which the surrounding politics can be
  135  particularly complex at a municipal level, significantly
  136  heightening the concern of municipalities and municipal special
  137  districts that place local requirements on passenger cruise
  138  vessels or cruise lines, and
  139         WHEREAS, in light of these potential negative impacts, the
  140  permissible scope of local voter initiatives or referendums and
  141  of the powers of a municipality or municipal special district
  142  must be appropriately limited, NOW, THEREFORE,