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Home My Public Portal AboutLTC 102-2015 - 2015 Florida Legislative Special Session Update'.y�n4��F1`z SAL HABOUR F LO RI DA'S PARADISE OFFICE OF THE VILLAGE MANAGER NO. 102-2015 LETTER TO COUNCIL TO: Mayor Martin Packer and Members of the Village Council FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, Village Manager I DATE: June 12, 2015 SUBJECT: 2015 Florida Legislative Special Session Update The purpose of this Letter to Council (LTC) is to transmit the attached 2015 Florida Legislative Special Session update provided by Ron L. Book. Please let me know if you need additional information. jgonzalez@balharbour.org From: Rana Brown <Rana@rlbookpa.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 7:55 PM To: jgonzalez@balharbour.org; prodriguez@baIharbour.org Subject: Special Session Update Good Evening, We are writing to give you a brief update on the special session. The House and Senate began their budget conference negotiations last Friday and worked into the weekend, throughout Saturday and Sunday. As you probably know, the budget conference process is the process the Legislature uses to resolve differences in their proposed budgets. The budget conference committees are joint committees of House and Senate members, and they are chaired by the House and Senate Appropriations Chairs. Once the conference subcommittees complete their work, any unresolved items are "bumped" to the full chairs. If the full chairs cannot come to agreement, remaining items are "bumped" to the presiding officers. Late yesterday, the subcommittees completed their work and today the full committee chairs, Senator Tom Lee and Representative Richard Corcoran, will begin working to resolve issues that were unresolved at the subcommittee level. Below is a brief explanation of each of the committees, the Departments they oversee and some of the issues they are discussing. Health and Human Services Appropriations: Oversees health care spending in the Florida Department of Health; Agency for Health Care Administration; Department of Children and Families; Agency for Persons with Disabilities; Department of Veterans Affairs. Key issues: Low Income Pool Funding; Medicaid provider rates; early steps program; foster care funding; nursing home rates; home and community services waiver for people with disabilities. Education Appropriations: Oversees the education spending in the Department of Education; Pre-K -12 funding; state universities; private colleges and universities; community colleges; early learning; vocational rehabilitation services. Key issues: per student funding; Bright Futures scholarships; Public Education Capital Outlay funding (and potentially whether to use bonds); community college funding. Criminal Justice Appropriations: Oversees Department of Corrections; Department of Juvenile Justice; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; the Court System, including state attorneys, public defenders and judges. Key issues: prison spending; local juvenile assessment centers; state crime lab; state attorney and public defender salaries; court spending including clerks and capital needs. Transportation, Tourism Economic Development Appropriations: Oversees spending in the Departments of Transportation; State; of Community Affairs; Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; Military Affairs; the Agency for Workforce Innovation; and the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. Key Issues: all transportation projects including highways, airports, seaports, cultural and museum grants, libraries, historic preservation, workforce development and state economic development projects. General Government/Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee: Oversees spending in the Departments of Agriculture & Consumer Services; Environmental Protection; Citrus; and the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Key issues: all water projects, Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program (FRDAP), beach renourishment, all environmental spending such as everglades restoration among others. General Government/Governmental Operations Appropriations Subcommittee: Oversees spending in the Departments of Revenue; Financial Services; Management Services; Business & Professional Regulation; the Department of the Lottery, and the Public Service Commission. Key issues: Florida's financial administration, all professional services that require a license, lottery funding, and oversight of the Public Service Commission funding. The conference committees are making progress in all areas, but are not yet done with their work. We expect that they will continue to work throughout the week and into this weekend to complete their budget and place it on the legislator's desk for the constitutionally -mandated 72-hour waiting period before the House and Senate take a final vote likely Friday, June 19. In terms of their substantive work, the House rejected the Senate's Medicaid expansion proposal, and today the Senate discussed several hospital and health care reforms proposed by the House in a Senate workshop. The reforms proposed by the House include: • Elimination of the hospital certificate of need (CON) program; • Expansion of prescribing authority for registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants; • Authorization for ambulatory surgical and other non -hospital facilities to keep patients as long as 72 hours. Creation of a new licensure category called a recovery care center. • Authorization for patients to enter into contracts with primary care providers and pay them directly for specified services. Also at issue is the funding for the Low Income Pool (LIP). House and Senate leaders have already agreed to use $450 million in general revenue to supplement the LIP Program, $400 million of which will supplement the hospital LIP program. The House and Senate have not yet agreed to a new LIP formula for hospitals, but are focused on ensuring that Florida's Safety Net hospitals, such as Jackson Health System, the North Broward Hospital District, the South Broward Hospital District and Shands Jacksonville are protected from cuts that could impact their ability to provide care in the community. We expect the LIP formula and model to be completed in the next several days. The House also approved tax relief package, which the Senate will discuss next week. We have included a summary of the bill as it passed the House. Tax Cut Package: (HB 33A) The House passed its omnibus tax cuts package as part of the budget negotiations during the first week of the special session. This bill will be heard in the Senate Appropriations committee on Monday, 6/11. The bill has a number of tax cuts and reductions, which will providejust under $300 million in tax cuts during the first year, and grow to approximately $436 million in tax cuts over the full two years of its application. This package is considerably less in tax cuts than the Governor proposed during the regular session as part of his overall platform. However it does have a variety of exemptions, which we have summarized below. The package includes tax cuts or reductions on the following: • The Communications Services Tax (CST) recommended cut would decrease the rate of Direct -to - Home Satellite Communication Services Tax to 9.0% over the course of the next two years. • Aviation fuel tax exemption for universities offering aerospace program or flight training, • A reduction of state tax rate for commercial rentals • Postsecondary Textbooks Exemption for three one -day periods: Friday, August 21, 2015; Friday, January 8, 2016; and Friday, May 13, 2016 • Brownfield Credits over two years • Corporate income tax research and development tax credit • A corporate income tax community contribution tax credits • A sales and use tax exemption in the area of Aquaculture • A back to school 3 day Sales Tax exemption on various clothing, school supplies and computers beginning on Friday, August 7, and ending on Sunday, August 9, 2015 • A sales tax exemption on various Prepaid College Meal Plans • Various agricultural uses • Business and Commercial Rents • Gun -club memberships • Motor vehicles purchased overseas by internationally -deployed service members from Florida As we approach the final stretch, several issues remain. We will keep you informed as budget negotiations continue. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if you require any additional information. Thank you! Ronald 1. Book, P. R. Lh Ud u11 FRNMIOM At! oolwo Ronald L. Book Ronald L. Book, P.A. Harbour Centre 18851 N.E. 29th Ave., Ste. 1010 Aventura, FL 33180 Phone: 305.935.1866 TLH Office: 850.224.3427 Email: ron@rlbookpa.com Kelly C. Mallette Ronald L. Book, P.A. Harbour Centre 18851 N.E. 29th Ave., Ste. 1010 Aventura, FL 33180 Phone: 305.935.1866 TLH Office: 850.224.3427 Email: kelly@rlbookpa.com Rana G. Brown Ronald L. Book, P.A. Harbour Centre 18851 N.E. 29th Ave., Ste. 1010 Aventura, FL 33180 Phone: 305.935.1866 TLH Office: 850.224.3427 Email: ranana.rlbookna.com