Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. PCS (353234) for CS for SB 398
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì1294263Î129426                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  02/28/2022           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Diaz) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (639566) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete line 361
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 9. Effective upon this act becoming a law, the
    7  Greater Miami Expressway Agency created by chapter 2019-169,
    8  Laws of Florida, is reestablished subject to the revised powers
    9  and duties set forth herein.
   10         Section 10. Effective upon this act becoming a law, section
   11  348.0301, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   12         348.0301 Short title.—This part may be cited as the
   13  “Greater Miami Expressway Agency Act of 2022.”
   14         Section 11. Effective upon this act becoming a law, section
   15  348.0302, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
   16         Section 12. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
   17  subsection (4) and present subsection (9) of section 348.0303,
   18  Florida Statutes, are amended, and a new subsection (11) is
   19  added to that section, to read:
   20         348.0303 Definitions.—As used in the this part, the term:
   21         (4) “County” means a county as defined in s. 125.011(1).
   22         (8)(9) “Expressway system” means any and all expressways
   23  not owned by the department which fall within the geographic
   24  boundaries of the agency established pursuant to this act and
   25  appurtenant facilities thereto, including but not limited to,
   26  all approaches, roads, bridges, and avenues of access for such
   27  expressway. The term includes a public transportation facility.
   28         (11)“Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority” means the
   29  state agency previously existing and originally established
   30  under the Florida Expressway Authority Act and subsequently
   31  dissolved by the Greater Miami Expressway Agency Act.
   32         Section 13. Effective upon this act becoming a law, section
   33  348.03031, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
   34         348.03031 Legislative findings, intent, and declaration.—
   35         (1)The Legislature finds the need to clarify the legal
   36  status, ownership, and control of the roads that constitute the
   37  expressway system in Miami-Dade County and portions of northeast
   38  Monroe County, following Miami-Dade County’s attempt to abolish
   39  the Greater Miami Expressway Agency in Miami-Dade Ordinance 21
   40  35 (May 4, 2021).
   41         (2)The Legislature recognizes that the original expressway
   42  system previously operated by the former Miami-Dade County
   43  Expressway Authority is owned by the department. The transfer
   44  agreement dated December 10, 1996, entered into by the
   45  department and the former Miami-Dade County Expressway
   46  Authority, transferred only operational and financial control of
   47  the expressways owned by the department.
   48         (3)The Legislature recognizes the Miami-Dade County
   49  Expressway Authority was dissolved by chapter 2019-169, Laws of
   50  Florida, and all assets, employees, contracts, rights, and
   51  liabilities were purportedly transferred to the Greater Miami
   52  Expressway Agency. All assets, employees, contracts, rights, and
   53  liabilities previously owned or controlled by the former Miami
   54  Dade County Expressway Authority, including, without limitation,
   55  those previously transferred to the Greater Miami Expressway
   56  Agency, are transferred back to the reestablished Greater Miami
   57  Expressway Agency created in s. 348.0304 on the effective date
   58  of this act.
   59         (4)It is the intent of the Legislature to confirm that the
   60  Greater Miami Expressway Agency that was created by chapter
   61  2019-169, Florida Statutes, is hereby reestablished. The Greater
   62  Miami Expressway Agency is the state agency that shall govern
   63  the expressway system within the geographical boundaries of
   64  Miami-Dade County and the portion of northeast Monroe County
   65  which includes County Road 94 and the portion of Monroe County
   66  bounded on the north and east by the borders of Monroe County
   67  and on the south and west by County Road 94. It is further the
   68  express intent of the Legislature that the Greater Miami
   69  Expressway Agency created by this law is an agency of the state
   70  and not subject to any county’s home rule powers.
   71         Section 14. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
   72  subsection (1) and paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of
   73  section 348.0304, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   74         348.0304 Greater Miami Expressway Agency.—
   75         (1) There is hereby created and established a body politic
   76  and corporate, an agency of the state, to be known as the
   77  “Greater Miami Expressway Agency.” The agency shall serve the
   78  area within the geographical boundaries of Miami-Dade County and
   79  the portion of northeast Monroe County including County Road 94
   80  and the portion of Monroe County bounded on the north and east
   81  by the borders of Monroe County and on the south and west by
   82  County Road 94.
   83         (2)(a) The governing body of the agency shall consist of
   84  nine voting members. Except for the district secretary of the
   85  department, each member must be a permanent resident of a the
   86  county served by the agency and may not hold, or have held in
   87  the previous 2 years, elected or appointed office in such the
   88  county, except this provision does not apply to any initial
   89  appointment under paragraph (b) or to any member who previously
   90  served on the governing body of the former Greater Miami
   91  Expressway Agency. Each member may only serve two terms of 4
   92  years each, except there is no restriction on the term of the
   93  department’s district secretary for the district serving Miami
   94  Dade County. Four members shall be appointed by the Governor,
   95  one of whom must be a member of the metropolitan planning
   96  organization for Miami-Dade the County. Two members, who must be
   97  residents of an unincorporated portion of the geographic area
   98  described in subsection (1) and residing within 15 miles of an
   99  area with the highest amount of agency toll roads, shall be
  100  appointed by the board of county commissioners of Miami-Dade
  101  County residing within 15 miles of an area with the highest
  102  amount of agency toll roads, shall be appointed by the board of
  103  county commissioners of the county. Two members, who must be
  104  residents of incorporated municipalities within a county served
  105  by the agency, shall be appointed by the metropolitan planning
  106  organization for a county served by the agency the county, shall
  107  be appointed by the metropolitan planning organization for the
  108  county. The district secretary of the department serving in the
  109  district that contains Miami-Dade the County shall serve as an
  110  ex officio voting member of the governing body.
  111         (b) Initial appointments to the governing body of the
  112  agency shall be made by July 31, 2019. For the initial
  113  appointments:
  114         1. The Governor shall appoint one member for a term of 1
  115  year, one member for a term of 2 years, one member for a term of
  116  3 years, and one member for a term of 4 years.
  117         2. The board of county commissioners of Miami-Dade County
  118  shall appoint one member for a term of 1 year and one member for
  119  a term of 3 years.
  120         3. The metropolitan planning organization of Miami-Dade
  121  County shall appoint one member for a term of 2 years and one
  122  member for a term of 4 years.
  123         Section 15. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
  124  paragraph (b) of subsection (1), paragraph (f) of subsection
  125  (2), and subsections (6) and (8) of section 348.0306, Florida
  126  Statutes, are amended to read:
  127         348.0306 Purposes and powers.—
  128         (1)
  129         (b) The agency, in the construction of an expressway
  130  system, may shall construct expressways. Construction of an
  131  expressway system may be completed in segments, phases, or
  132  stages in a manner that will permit the expansion of these
  133  segments, phases, or stages to the desired expressway
  134  configuration. The agency, in the construction of an expressway
  135  system, may construct any extensions of, additions to, or
  136  improvements to the expressway system or appurtenant facilities,
  137  including all necessary approaches, roads, bridges, and avenues
  138  of access, with such changes, modifications, or revisions of the
  139  project that are deemed desirable and proper. For new capacity
  140  projects, the agency shall use the department’s design standards
  141  and, to the maximum extent practicable, design facilities such
  142  as the department would for high-speed limited access
  143  facilities. The agency may only add additional expressways to an
  144  expressway system, under the terms and conditions set forth in
  145  this act, with the prior express written consent of the board of
  146  county commissioners of Miami-Dade the County or Monroe County,
  147  as applicable, and only if such additional expressways lack
  148  adequate committed funding for implementation, are financially
  149  feasible, and are compatible with the existing plans, projects,
  150  and programs of the agency.
  151         (2) The agency may exercise all powers necessary,
  152  appurtenant, convenient, or incidental to the carrying out of
  153  its purposes, including, but not limited to, the following
  154  rights and powers:
  155         (f) To borrow money, make and issue negotiable notes,
  156  bonds, refund bonds, and other evidence of indebtedness of the
  157  agency, which bonds or other evidence of indebtedness may be
  158  issued pursuant to the State Bond Act or, in the alternative,
  159  pursuant to s. 348.0309(2) to finance or refinance additions,
  160  extensions, or improvements to the expressway system within the
  161  geographic boundaries of the agency, and to provide for the
  162  security of the bonds or other evidence of indebtedness and the
  163  rights and remedies of the holders of the bonds or other
  164  evidence of indebtedness. Any bonds or other evidence of
  165  indebtedness pledging the full faith and credit of the state may
  166  only be issued pursuant to the State Bond Act.
  167         1. The agency shall reimburse the counties county in which
  168  it exists for any sums expended from any county gasoline tax
  169  funds used for payment of such obligations. Any county gasoline
  170  tax funds so disbursed shall be repaid in accordance with the
  171  terms of any lease-purchase or interlocal agreement with any
  172  county or the department together with interest, at the rate
  173  agreed to in such agreement. In no event shall any county
  174  gasoline tax funds be more than a secondary pledge of revenues
  175  for repayment of any obligations issued pursuant to this part.
  176         2. The agency may refund any bonds previously issued, to
  177  the extent allowable by federal tax laws, to finance or
  178  refinance an expressway system located within the geographic
  179  boundaries of the agency regardless of whether the bonds being
  180  refunded were issued by such agency, an agency of the state, or
  181  a county.
  182         (6) Notwithstanding subsection (3) or any other provision
  183  of law to the contrary, the agency may not undertake any
  184  construction that is not consistent with both the metropolitan
  185  planning organization’s transportation improvement program and
  186  the county’s comprehensive plan in an area served by the agency.
  187         (8) The governing body of a the county served by the agency
  188  may enter into an interlocal agreement with the agency pursuant
  189  to s. 163.01 for the joint performance or performance by either
  190  governmental entity of any corporate function of the county or
  191  agency necessary or appropriate to enable the agency to fulfill
  192  the powers and purposes of this part and promote the efficient
  193  and effective transportation of persons and goods in such
  194  county.
  195         Section 16. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
  196  subsections (1) and (2) of section 348.0307, Florida Statutes,
  197  are amended to read:
  198         348.0307 Greater Miami Toll Rebate Program.—There is
  199  created by the agency the Greater Miami Toll Rebate Program.
  200         (1) The agency shall develop and implement a monthly rebate
  201  program for the month beginning January 1, 2023 2020, subject
  202  to:
  203         (a) Compliance with any covenants made with the holders of
  204  the agency’s bonds which are in the trust indentures or
  205  resolutions adopted in connection with the issuance of the
  206  agency’s bonds;
  207         (b) Consideration of the financial feasibility of such a
  208  program as reported by the Auditor General as required by this
  209  act; and
  210         (c) Consideration of the impact of such a program to the
  211  financial feasibility of prioritized projects that have been
  212  allocated funds for a project development and an environmental
  213  study but are not contained in the 5-year work program on July
  214  1, 2019.
  215         (2) Monthly rebates shall be credited to the account of
  216  each SunPass holder who incurs $12.50 or more in tolls on the
  217  expressway system each month and whose SunPass is registered to
  218  a motor vehicle registered to an address in the geographic area
  219  described in s. 348.0304(1) county.
  220         Section 17. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
  221  paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 348.0309, Florida
  222  Statutes, is amended to read:
  223         348.0309 Bonds.—
  224         (2)
  225         (c) Such bonds shall be sold by the agency at public sale
  226  by competitive bid. However, if the agency, after receipt of a
  227  written recommendation from a financial adviser, determines by
  228  official action after public hearing by a two-thirds vote of all
  229  voting members of the agency that a negotiated sale of the bonds
  230  is in the best interest of the agency, the agency may negotiate
  231  for sale of the bonds with the underwriter or underwriters
  232  designated by the agency and the counties county in which the
  233  agency exists. The agency shall provide specific findings in a
  234  resolution as to the reasons requiring the negotiated sale,
  235  which resolution shall incorporate and have attached thereto the
  236  written recommendation of the financial adviser required by this
  237  subsection.
  238         Section 18. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
  239  subsection (2) of section 348.0315, Florida Statutes, is amended
  240  to read:
  241         348.0315 Public accountability.—
  242         (2) Beginning October 1, 2023 2020, and annually
  243  thereafter, the agency shall submit to the metropolitan planning
  244  organization for each the county served by the agency a report
  245  providing information regarding the amount of tolls collected
  246  and how those tolls were used in the agency’s previous fiscal
  247  year. The report shall be posted on the agency’s website.
  248         Section 19. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
  249  subsection (1) of section 348.0318, Florida Statutes, is amended
  250  to read:
  251         348.0318 This part complete and additional authority.—
  252         (1) The powers conferred by this part are in addition and
  253  supplemental to the existing powers of the department and the
  254  governing body of the agency, and this part may not be construed
  255  as repealing any of the provisions of any other law, general,
  256  special, or local, but to supersede such other laws in the
  257  exercise of the powers provided in this part and to provide a
  258  complete method for the exercise of the powers granted in this
  259  part. The extension and improvement of the expressway system,
  260  and the issuance of bonds pursuant to this part to finance all
  261  or part of the cost of the system, may be accomplished upon
  262  compliance with the provisions of this part without regard to or
  263  necessity for compliance with the provisions, limitations, or
  264  restrictions contained in any other general, special, or local
  265  law, including, but not limited to, s. 215.821, and no approval
  266  of any bonds issued under this part by the qualified electors or
  267  qualified electors who are freeholders in the state or in Miami
  268  Dade County, in Monroe County, or in any other political
  269  subdivision of the state, is required for the issuance of such
  270  bonds pursuant to this part, including, but not limited to, s.
  271  215.821.
  272         Section 20. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
  273  replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
  274  occurs in this act with the date this act becomes a law.
  275         Section 21. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
  276  act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon
  277  this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1,
  278  2022.
  279  
  280  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  281  And the title is amended as follows:
  282         Delete line 415
  283  and insert:
  284         reestablishing the Greater Miami Expressway Agency;
  285         amending s. 348.0301, F.S.; revising a short title;
  286         repealing s. 348.0302, F.S., relating to
  287         applicability; amending s. 348.0303, F.S.; deleting
  288         the term “county”; revising the definition of the term
  289         “expressway system”; defining the term “Miami-Dade
  290         County Expressway Authority”; creating s. 348.03031,
  291         F.S.; providing legislative findings and intent;
  292         amending s. 348.0304, F.S.; revising the area served
  293         by the agency to include specified portions of Monroe
  294         County; revising requirements for membership of the
  295         agency’s governing body; revising requirements for
  296         initial appointments; amending s. 348.0306, F.S.;
  297         authorizing, rather than requiring, the agency to
  298         construct expressways; conforming provisions to
  299         changes made by the act; amending s. 348.0307, F.S.;
  300         revising the date by which the agency must develop and
  301         implement a certain toll rebate program; revising
  302         persons who are eligible for the program; amending s.
  303         348.0309, F.S.; conforming a provision to changes made
  304         by the act; amending s. 348.0315, F.S.; revising the
  305         date by which, and the entities to which, the agency
  306         must begin submitting certain annual reports relating
  307         to tolls; amending s. 348.0318, F.S.; conforming a
  308         provision to changes made by the act; providing a
  309         directive to the Division of Law Revision; providing
  310         effective dates.