2014 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW Philip L. Leary, AICP
pleary@LearyGAC.com www.LearyGAC.com
With interim Legislative com- mittee weeks completed, the 2014 legislative session be- gins on Tuesday March 1st with Governor Scott giving his State-of-the-State Address to a joint session of the House
and Senate. With the Governor, all 120 House seats and 20 Senate seats up for election or reelection this year, the major themes of the upcoming session will be tax cuts, job creation and water resource protection. State economists are now projecting a 2014-15 budget
surplus of over $1.2 billion dollars, which will allow legisla- tors an opportunity to make tax cuts and fund member projects that will bolster their reelection campaigns. In a revenue estimating conference report released last month, economists stated that consumer confidence continues to solidify and economic indicators point to a continued re- covery from the recession. Based on this news, Governor Scott is proposing tax cuts of $500 million for the next fis- cal year. There are currently several tax bills that have been filed, but the one filed by Sen. Joe Negron outlined below has passed out of one senate committee to date: HB 61(Rep. Mike Hill)/SB 286(Sen. Joe Negron) have
been filed that reduce taxes as follows: Motor Vehicle License Taxes: Reduces service charge
imposed on application for original or duplicate license plate, or transfer of specified registration stickers or certifi- cates; reduces fee collected for motor vehicle registration; reduces surcharges imposed on license tax. Specifically for Fairs, Senator Wilton Simpson has filed
SB 624 relating to Fairs Associations; Prohibiting a county from levying a tax, special assessment, or fee for the plan- ning, construction, operation, use, or maintenance of stormwater facilities against land owned by a fair associa- tion; prohibiting a county, municipality, or special district from imposing an impact or mobility fee on a fair associa- tion; providing for retroactive application; exempting fair associations from the assessment or imposition of a fee by local or regional governmental entities for the planning, construction, operation, use, or maintenance of stormwa- ter management systems, etc. As of the date of writing this article no House companion
had been filed, but it highly likely one will be. Sen. Simp- son is a former Board member for the Pasco County Fair and one of our strongest advocates in the Florida legisla- ture. In conclusion, as of this date over 600 bills have been
filed for the 2014 session, and as in past years there will be over 1200 bills filed before the final bill filing date oc- curs the first week of March. For all Fair Board members and Managers now is the time to contact your respective
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Representative and Senator to establish a rapport and thank them for their support last year’s session and their willingness to work with us on key issues in the upcoming session. With 160 members of the legislature, our grassroots ef-
forts to develop relationships with legislators can pay huge dividends when the 60 day session convenes. Invite them to your Fair and let them see the great youth programs that are such an integral part of the Fair. I would also encour- age members to get involved in campaigns both personally and financially, this will be significantly advantageous to our efforts in the future. In the interim, should you have any questions or need
additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me. I appreciate the opportunity to represent the Associa- tion and look forward to a successful 2014.
Regular sessions of the Legislature begin on the first Tues- day after the first Monday in March and continue for 60 consecutive days, which may be extended by a three-fifths vote of each house. Special sessions may be called by the Governor, or may be convened by joint proclamation of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Special sessions may not exceed 20 days, unless extended by a three-fifths vote of each house.
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