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SB 1500 — Appropriations
by Appropriations Committee
The General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2013-2014 provides for a total budget of $74.5 billion, including:
Total reserves - $2.8 billion:
Total reserves as a percentage of general revenue: 9.7 percent.
Major Highway Safety/Transportation Issues Funded
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Total: $413.9 million ($1 million GR; $412.9 million TF); 4,419 FTE
Florida Highway Patrol Replacement Vehicles - $11.0 million TF
Florida Highway Patrol Communications System - $5.4 million TF
State Overtime Action Response (SOAR) & Incidental Overtime for Florida Highway Patrol - $10.2 million TF
Driver Related Issuance and Vehicle Enhancements (DRIVE) - $1.8 million TF
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Grant - $10.4 million TF
Drive Right Marketing Campaign - $1 million GR
Department of Transportation
Total: $9.5 billion ($2.4 million GR; $9.4 billion TF); 6,630 FTE
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2013.
Vote: Senate 40-0; House 106-11
CS/CS/CS/SB 52 — Use of Wireless Communications Devices While Driving
by Judiciary Committee; Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities Committee; Transportation Committee; Senators Detert,
Montford, Margolis, Richter, Latvala, Abruzzo, Benacquisto, Soto, and Sachs
CS/CS/CS/SB 52 creates the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law.” The bill prohibits the operation of a motor
vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols, or other text in a handheld wireless
communication device, or sending or reading data in the device, for the purpose of non-voice interpersonal communication.
The bill makes exceptions for emergency workers performing official duties, reporting emergencies or suspicious
activities, and for receiving various types of navigation information, emergency traffic data, radio broadcasts,
and autonomous vehicles. The bill also makes an exception for interpersonal communications that can be conducted
without manually typing the message or without reading the message.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect October 1, 2013.
Vote: Senate 39-1; House 110-6
CS/HB 579 — Natural Gas Motor Fuel
by Regulatory Affairs Committee; Energy and Utilities Subcommittee; and Rep. Ray and others (CS/CS/SB 560 by
Appropriations Committee; Transportation Committee; and Senators Simpson, Bean, Bradley, Stargel, Latvala, Grimsley,
Evers, Soto, Ring, Gibson, Hays, Lee, Altman, Thompson, Garcia and Diaz de la Portilla)
The bill repeals the decal fee program for motor vehicles powered by alternative fuels, repeals the sales tax on
alternative fuels, establishes a new fuel tax structure for motor vehicles powered by natural gas, and creates a
natural gas fuel fleet vehicle rebate program.
If approved by the Governor, except as otherwise provided, these provisions take effect January 1, 2014.
Vote: Senate 39-0; House 116-2
CS/SB 606 — Northeast Florida Regional Transportation Commission
by Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee; Community Affairs Committee; Transportation Committee; and
Senators Gibson, Thrasher, Bradley, and Bean
The bill creates the Northeast Florida Regional Transportation Commission (commission) for the purposes of improving
mobility and expanding multimodal transportation options for persons and freight throughout Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau,
Putnam, and St. Johns Counties.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2013.
Vote: Senate 36-0; House 118-0
CS/CS/HB 7125 — Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
by Economic Affairs Committee, Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee, and Transportation &
Highway Safety Subcommittee and Rep. Raburn and others (CS/CS/SB 1458 by Appropriations Committee, Transportation,
Tourism, and Economic Development, Transportation Committee and Senator Brandes)
The bill makes numerous changes to the way the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV, department)
administers many of its programs and functions.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2013.
Vote: Senate 38-0; House 114-1
CS/CS/CS/HB 319 — Community Transportation Projects
by Economic Affairs Committee; Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee; Economic Development and Tourism
Subcommittee; and Rep. Ray (CS/CS/SB 972 by Transportation Committee; Community Affairs Committee; and Senator
Hukill)
This bill provides that an alternative funding system must provide a means for new development to pay for its impacts
and proceed with development. The bill allows local governments to pool contributions from multiple applicants toward
one planned facility improvement and clarifies when s. 163.3180(5)(h), F.S., applies to local governments implementing
transportation concurrency or development agreements. The bill also provides that an applicant may satisfy concurrency
requirements by making a good faith offer to enter into a binding agreement and requires local governments to provide
the basis upon which landowners will be assessed a proportionate share of costs.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect upon becoming law.
Vote: Senate 36-0; House 108-5
CS/CS/HB 85 — Public-Private Partnerships
by Appropriations Committee; Government Operations Subcommittee; and Rep. Steube and others (CS/CS/CS/SB 84 by
Appropriations Committee; Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee; Community Affairs Committee; and
Senators Diaz de la Portilla and Bean)
The bill authorizes public-private partnerships to contract for public service work with not-for-profit-organizations.
The bill adds provisions for contracts for park land and public education facilities. This bill creates an alternative
procurement process and requirements for public-private partnerships to facilitate the construction of public-purpose
projects, and creates the Partnership for Public Facilities and Infrastructure Act Guidelines Task Force to make
recommendations guidelines for the Legislature to consider for public-private partnerships to foster uniformity across
the state. The bill specifies the requirements for such partnerships, which include provisions that require responsible
public entities to provide notice of unsolicited proposals, conduct independent analyses of proposed partnerships, notify
other affected local jurisdictions, and enter into interim and comprehensive agreements for qualifying projects. The bill
authorizes responsible public entities to approve a qualifying project if there is a need for or benefit derived from the
project, the estimated cost of the project is reasonable, and the private entity’s plans will result in the timely
acquisition, design, construction, improvement, renovation, expansion, equipping, maintenance, or operation of the
qualifying project.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2013.
Vote: Senate 37-0; House 111-4
CS/CS/SB 50 — Public Meetings
by Rules Committee; Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee; and Senators Negron and Evers
The bill authorizes a board or commission to adopt certain reasonable rules or policies governing the opportunity to be
heard. If a board or commission adopts such rules or policies and thereafter complies with them, it is deemed to be
acting in compliance with the section. The bill authorizes a circuit court to issue injunctions for the purpose of
enforcing the section upon the filing of an application for such injunction by any citizen of Florida. If such an action
is filed and the court determines that the board or commission violated the section, the bill requires the court to
assess reasonable attorney fees against the board or commission. The bill also authorizes the court to assess reasonable
attorney fees against the individual filing the action if the court finds that the action was filed in bad faith or was
frivolous. The bill excludes specified public officers from such attorney fee provisions. If a board or commission
appeals a court order finding that it violated the section and the order is affirmed, the bill requires the court to
assess reasonable appellate attorney fees against the board or commission.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect October 1, 2013.
Vote: Senate 40-0; House 113-2
Source: Florida Senate