SB 7023 – relating to Economic Development
On Thursday, April 24th, SB 7023, relating to Economic Development, by House Economic Development & Tourism Subcommittee and Representative Travis Hutson (R-Palm Coast) passed the House chamber by a 104-13 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
This bill does a number of things, including making technical changes to statutes, directs Space Florida to consult with VISIT Florida in developing a space tourism marketing plan, promotes the goals of accountability and proper stewardship by recipients of the state's loan programs and most importantly, exempts new small business developments from transportation concurrency requirements and proportionate share requirements for three years.
AIF supports legislation that will assist Florida's small businesses and encourage economic development in our state.
HB 7095 – relating to Professional Sports Facilities Incentive Application Process
On Friday, April 25th, HB 7095, relating to Professional Sports Facilities Incentive Application Process, by House Economic Affairs Committee and Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-Panama City) passed the House chamber by a 93-16 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The bill creates the Professional Sports Facility Incentive Program process to provide state funding for the public purpose of constructing, reconstructing, renovating, or improving a professional sports facility. The bill creates a new application, review, and approval process for funding sports facilities, but does not require any expenditure of funds. It also caps the total potential annual distributions at $12 million in General Revenue funds. Once an applicant has been approved by the Legislature and certified by the Department of Economic Opportunity, the DEO shall determine the annual distribution based on the estimate of new incremental states sales taxes provided in the Expected Sales Tax Analysis. A certified applicant may receive up to 75 percent of the estimate or $2 million, whichever is less.
AIF supports this bill because of the positive impact that professional sports have on Florida’s economy and the thousands of jobs they provide to Floridians.
