2009 LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tough Choices Made to Accelerate Economy and Create Jobs
During the 2009 Legislative Session, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and its partners successfully defended Florida’s employers from multiple attacks in a difficult budget year, including attempts to raise taxes on businesses, increase mandates and halt economic growth.
May 1 marked the 60th day and official end of the 2009 Regular Legislative Session; however, the Florida Legislature extended for an additional week in order to pass the budget. Legislators were faced with tough choices this year, as the $66.5 billion budget contained a $6 billion deficit, though legislators used $5.3 billion in federal stimulus dollars this year. In this unusually sparse session, the Florida Legislature passed only 238 of the 2369 bills filed, down from the typical average of 400 bills passed.
Florida’s employers saw significant legislative success this year with the passage of workers’ compensation reform, increased investment in higher education to create a talented workforce, property tax relief and substantial growth management reform. The Florida Chamber fought against the anti-jobs agenda of the plaintiffs’ trial lawyers, unions and no growth groups to advance your pro-jobs priorities.
Chamber members Win in Fight Over Lower Workers’ Compensation Costs
The Florida Legislature passed a bill supported by the Florida Chamber and our partners to restore a cap on attorneys’ fees in workers’ compensation cases. Lowering workers’ compensation insurance costs has remained a top priority of Florida’s employers this year, as Florida’s employers cannot be burdened with additional costs due to insurance increases during this time.
Susan Story, chair of The Florida Council of 100, Allan Bense, vice chair of Enterprise Florida and Marshall Criser, Florida Chamber Board Chair, present economic development recommendations to the Senate.
Despite the aggressive lobby effort of the plaintiffs’ trial attorneys, the Florida Chamber and our partners were successful in the fight for passage of this bill. This is a strong victory for the business community during a tough legislative session, and we will continue to champion the need for less burdensome regulations on business owners.
Property Tax Reform Passes in Final Hours
During the final hours of session, the Florida Legislature voted to approve critically needed property tax reform, securing a major victory for Florida’s business owners and taxpayers. The Florida Chamber believes Florida’s taxpayers deserve a level playing field in property tax challenges and lowering the burden of proof will directly benefit Florida’s employers.
Before the passage of this legislation, a property appraiser determined the value on your property, and that value is presumed correct unless the taxpayer shows by “clear and convincing evidence” that the property appraiser is wrong. These reforms retain the property appraiser’s presumption but lowers the burden of proof on taxpayers to overcome this presumption and win their case to a “preponderance of the evidence.”
Lowering the burden of proof from “clear and convincing evidence” to a “preponderance of the evidence” restores balance to a broken system and ensures fairness for both the taxpayer and the property appraiser.
Corporate Income Tax Increases Defeated
In another victory for the Florida Chamber, attempts to increase corporate income taxes were successfully halted in the Florida Legislature. These bills, which were defeated in the Florida Senate, contained numerous provisions affecting the tax base, the apportionment formula and filing requirements for corporate income taxpayers.
The legislation required an “add-back” to Florida taxable income of any expenses attributable to non-business income allocated to another state in both the current year and the two prior years. The measures adopted a “throw-out” rule whereby certain sales that are assigned to another state but not taxed there are excluded from the Florida sales factor used to apportion income to Florida for taxation.
This was not the time to add additional tax burdens on Florida’s employers, and the Florida Chamber applauds the Florida Legislature for recognizing the harm this bill could cause to Florida’s employers. We thank our partners and grassroots members for their work in defeating this legislation.
Higher Education Bill Passed and Sent to Governor
The Legislature passed a Florida Chamber-supported higher education initiative this session, further moving Florida toward a talent-based economy. This bill will attract high-wage, high-skilled jobs with a long-term focus to Florida and now goes to Gov. Charlie Crist.
This bill sets the foundation for necessary investment in higher education, as it allows all eleven state universities to utilize differential tuition, which permits schools to gradually bring tuition up to the national average. Florida has among the lowest tuition rates in the nation, causing a severe drain on talented professors, fewer course offerings and reduced value of Florida degrees.
Investing in a quality higher education system in our state is the best economic development tool we can provide for future generations. We applaud the Florida Legislature for passing this good bill and look forward to seeing Governor Crist sign the bill in the coming days.
Victory for Employers with Corporate Income Tax Glitch Passage
We are pleased to report that the first bill approved by the Florida Legislature in the 2009 session was SB 1112, the Corporate Income Tax Glitch bill, which fixes the bonus depreciation problem unintentionally created by last year’s “piggyback” bill.
The fix reverses a measure that deprives corporate income taxpayers’ of certain benefits, specifically depreciation deductions, which they enjoyed prior to 2008. The bill passed 116 to 0 in the House and 39 to 1 in the Senate, and was signed by Governor Crist.
This success is due to Chamber members who took the time to provide technical assistance and political support on this bill, and to our partners in the business community, particularly Associated Industries of Florida, Florida Retail Federation and Florida TaxWatch.
Sweeping Growth Management Reform Passes
The Florida Legislature passed sweeping growth management reform in the final hours of Session in a strong win for the Florida Chamber and Florida’s economic recovery. This bill was the product of extensive negotiations and agreement between the House, Senate, and Governor’s Office, and is designed to provide short-term economic stimulus and long-term reform to keep Florida’s economy on the right track.
This package of legislation will encourage urban infill by eliminating transportation concurrency and development of regional impact process (DRIs) in urban areas as well as allowing for expedited comprehensive plan reviews. The bill will also extend previously obtained permits and approvals by 2 years, create a transition process for moving towards a mobility fee system, and streamline and reduce inefficiency in our approach to growth management.
The Florida Chamber and our partners commend the Florida Legislature on this bold action that will benefit all Floridians. We are hopeful that Governor Crist will sign this legislation in the coming weeks.
Property Insurance Reform Passes
This session, the Florida Legislature passed key property insurance reform following a lengthy discussion and deliberation. The legislation is a good first step, and is a scaled-down version of original Chamber-supported property insurance reform. We will continue to fight for future reforms to Florida’s broken property insurance system.
Florida’s employers and citizens need predictability in the property insurance costs they pay. Assessments and potential assessments from overexposed state-run insurers continue to threaten the future stability of the market. We commend bill sponsor Sen. Garrett Richter and Rep. Bryan Nelson for his work on this bill and will continue fighting for lower insurance costs and solvency in the property insurance system in the future.
Workforce Training Grants Funded by House
in Success for Business
The Florida Legislature successfully invested in future economic development when it directed $3.3 million directed to Quick Response Training grants during budget negotiations. These grants are for new and expanding businesses to offset expenses and provide customized skills training for newly created jobs. The grants are a popular resource for businesses that must remain competitive to survive and thrive in the 21st Century economy.
For 16 years, QRT grants have helped companies in Florida that create new jobs to maintain a well-trained workforce. The Florida Chamber and our partners are extremely pleased by this development. More than $59 million in grants were awarded to businesses to train nearly 67,000 employees from 2000 to 2008. At a time when creating jobs is so critical to our economy, Florida employers could not afford to lose such a valuable component of the state’s economic development tool kit.
The Florida Chamber was happy to work with many of our partners in this effort, including Workforce Florida, Enterprise Florida and the Florida Economic Development Council.
Transportation Trust Fund Spared Major Loss in Redirection
Despite attempts to raid over $400 million from the State Transportation Trust Fund (STTF) the Florida Chamber and our partners succeeded in having only $100 million redirected. The funds in the State Transportation Trust Fund have been collected from gas taxes over the years for the purpose of funding needed transportation projects, which have been proven to create jobs and deliver long-term economic stimulus. Research has shown that for every $1 dedicated to transportation projects, Floridians receive nearly $6 in generated revenue, and Florida cannot afford to deny these funds at this critical point.
The Florida Chamber and our partners, including Floridians for Better Transportation and the Florida Transportation Builders Association, were among the strongest advocates against the sweep of our precious Transportation Trust Fund.
SunRail Proposal Defeated in Senate
SunRail was defeated on the Senate floor late on Friday following a heated debate and months of intense media coverage. Thirteen Republicans sided with 10 Democrats to defeat this key transportation and economic development project which was supported by the Florida Chamber. This bill would have provided needed economic stimulus and created jobs throughout the state, and we are disappointed to see its defeat in the Florida Senate.
Senate Bill 1212 was sponsored by Sen. Lee Constantine and would have created a 61-mile commuter rail system stretching from Volusia County to Osceola County, carrying commuters in and out of downtown Orlando. Previous economic analyses show that SunRail could have created an additional 260,000 jobs and provided $8.8 billion in positive economic impact to the State of Florida. The Florida Chamber would like to thank Jacob Stuart of the Central Florida Partnership for his tireless efforts and advocacy.
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