Elections
DeSantis wants another set of election changes that would include establishing an Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State to investigate fraud. The bill would also elevate ballot harvesting — when a third party collects and turns in voters’ ballots — from a misdemeanor to a thirddegree felony. He also wants supervisors of elections to adhere to a timeline for purging ineligible voters from voter rolls and prohibit “unsecure, haphazard” ballot drop box locations.
Data Privacy
Efforts to increase data privacy — a key priority of House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Gov. Ron DeSantis — are likely to resume. Last year’s legislation would have required companies that collect information from consumers via apps and websites to reveal what data they’ve collected from their users and how they plan to use it. But a provision in the bill that would have allowed individuals to sue companies that misuse that information sparked intense pushback from the Florida business community, which worried it could lead to a flood of lawsuits and create a bonanza for Florida’s trial lawyers.
Cryptocurrency
Rep. Vance Aloupis (R-Miami) and Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Orlando) are sponsoring bills that would tweak Florida’s money transmission statutes, which have proved to be a stumbling block for Florida cryptocurrency businesses, to clarify how virtual currency is regulated. Under court interpretation of current law, private individuals may need to register as money transmitters to legally exchange bitcoin and other digital currencies with another individual.
Affordable Housing
The Florida Realtors group advocates providing down-payment assistance for Florida’s “frontline workers” — nurses, police officers and firefighters — who seek to buy homes. The proposed Hometown Heroes Housing Program would provide low-interest loans for up to 5% of the purchase price (not to exceed $25,000) of a primary residence to help cover closing and down payment costs.
Citizens Property Insurance
The state-run insurer of last resort is growing at about 5,000 policies per week — an unsustainable pace that has pushed the company’s exposure to more than $213 billion. That will likely balloon to $320 billion next year when Citizen’s policy count rises to 1 million. The exposure is significant, since all Florida residents — regardless which company insures them — can be assessed if Citizens can’t pay claims.
Health Care
The Florida Hospital Association and other health care industry leaders are looking for help from lawmakers to bolster education and training for nurses. Florida was already about 11,500 RNs short in 2019 before COVID-19 hit and accelerated the crisis. Turnover among nurses in Florida rose to 25% during the pandemic, and the turnover rate among critical care nurses (who staff intensive care units) hit 30%. A report commissioned by the FHA and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida projects the shortage will grow to nearly 60,000 by 2035 if nothing is done.
Taxes
In 2018 and 2019, lawmakers passed legislation creating an automatic downward adjustment to the corporate income tax as long as net collections by the state exceeded projections in a given fiscal year. The policy has reduced the state’s corporate income tax from 5.5% (before the cuts went into effect) to 3.535% in 2021. Unless lawmakers act this year, the reduced rate — currently the second-lowest in the nation — will sunset in July and revert to 5.5% at the start of the fiscal year.
K-12
Gov. DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran are asking for $15.5 million to eliminate the Florida Standards Assessments exams — the final step in ditching Common Core — and implement a “progress monitoring” system, which will consist of short individual check-in assessments three times a year (fall, winter and spring) that are unique to each student. If approved, the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, or FAST plan, will be implemented in the 2022-23 school year to “set a baseline,” with grading beginning the following year.
Higher Education
The Florida Board of Governors submitted a $3.57-billion budget request — $540 million more than the previous year — including $160 million to help Florida State University, the University of Florida and the University of South Florida improve their position in national rankings. The BOG is also considering asking the Legislature for $800 million to repair aging buildings.
Condo Safety
Lawmakers will consider changes to Florida condo regulations following last year’s collapse of a 12-story beachfront condominium in Surfside that killed 98 people. A Florida Bar task force has recommended that every Florida condo three stories or taller undergo a structural inspection by the end of 2024, with repeat inspections every five years after. The task force also recommended empowering condo associations to impose assessments on owners or borrow money to pay for repairs as well as boosting requirements for cash reserves. The task force also found that the Florida Condominium Act contains “no express maintenance, repair or replacement standards for boards to follow” and suggests that lawmakers create inspection protocols using inspection reports as a model.