Florida Senate - 2021 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 426
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/11/2021 .
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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:
5 311.25 Regulation 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,