Bill > S7002

Introduced Session

An act relating to water management districts; amending s. 112.3261, F.S.; defining the term “expenditure”; requiring the Commission on Ethics to investigate a lobbyist or principal who has made a prohibited expenditure and to provide the Governor with a report of its findings and recommendations regarding such investigation; prohibiting certain persons from making or accepting expenditures; reenacting and amending s. 373.026, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; amending s. 373.0693, F.S.; deleting a provision requiring legislative approval before the establishment of a subdistrict or basin takes effect; amending s. 373.079, F.S.; requiring a quorum for the conduct of official business by the governing board of a water management district; providing requirements for a quorum; requiring an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the governing board before any action may be taken by the board; amending s. 373.1501, F.S.; providing a legislative declaration; authorizing the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District to acquire land to implement a reservoir project in a certain area; providing construction; providing that land necessary for implementing such project be acquired in a specified manner; prohibiting the district or the state from requesting that the United States Army Corps of Engineers acquire lands for such reservoir project by certain methods; prohibiting the inclusion of a provision for such request in a certain agreement; making technical changes; conforming provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 373.470, F.S.; requiring the South Florida Water Management District, in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Protection, to provide a detailed report that includes the total estimated remaining cost of implementation of the Everglades restoration comprehensive plan and the status of all performance indicators; requiring that project components be subdivided into specified categories based on the project’s status; providing requirements for performance indicators for certain projects or project components; providing legislative recognition of the value of the integrated delivery schedule; requiring the South Florida Ecosystem Task Force to identify certain sources of funding when making recommendations for updates to the integrated delivery schedule; amending s. 373.501, F.S.; prohibiting a water management district from using state funds for a specified purpose; amending s. 373.503, F.S.; authorizing the districts to levy certain ad valorem taxes on specified property for certain purposes; requiring a governing board levying ad valorem taxes for certain projects to adopt a resolution approved by a majority vote of the voting electors in the district or basin; providing requirements for such resolution; providing specifications for millage levied; requiring that the referendum question on the ballot specify the purpose of the levy and the maximum length of time the millage may be imposed; defining the term “capital improvement projects”; revising requirements for the maximum total millage rate; reenacting and amending s. 373.535, F.S.; requiring that the preliminary budget for each water management district include a section that contains the district’s capital improvement plan for the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year; requiring that such section contain specified information; requiring the South Florida Water Management District to include a section in its preliminary budget for all projects within the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan; requiring that the section contain specified information; requiring the South Florida Water Management District to indicate the fiscal year from which certain appropriations are expended; requiring the district to incorporate state revenues only in a certain manner when estimating expenditures for the next fiscal year; providing an exception; providing construction; amending s. 373.536, F.S.; authorizing the Legislative Budget Commission to reject certain district budget proposals; providing an exception; providing construction; requiring the South Florida Water Management District to include in its budget document certain sections that incorporate the actual amount of state revenues appropriated for the fiscal year; requiring a water management district’s tentative budget for its proposed operations and funding requirements to include the district’s capital improvement plan for the current year and the next fiscal year; amending s. 373.6075, F.S.; requiring a water management district to give preference to certain bids, proposals, or replies for the design, engineering, or construction of capital improvement projects in excess of a specified amount; requiring a water management district to consider certain factors for the purpose of the competitive bid selection process; amending s. 380.093, F.S.; requiring that certain projects submitted by water management districts to the department for the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan be ranked on a separate list; revising the information that must be submitted by the department for each project; requiring that each project included in such plan have a certain percentage cost share unless the project was submitted by specified water management districts; specifying the composition of the total amount of funding for such plan; restricting funding available to water management districts; providing exceptions; authorizing the department to issue certain loans by specified means to finance projects submitted by specified water management districts; authorizing the district to borrow certain funds and to repay such funds; providing requirements for the repayment of such loan; providing a penalty; prohibiting additional state loans or grants from being issued to a water management district that defaults under the terms of its loan until the default is remedied; requiring the department to adopt rules necessary to administer the loan program; amending s. 380.0935, F.S.; making a technical change; requiring the department to create and maintain a separate account in the Resilient Florida Trust Fund for certain funds received to administer the revolving loan program for certain projects submitted by water management districts within the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan; requiring that all repayments be returned to the revolving loan program and made available for the eligible projects in the plan; providing that funds appropriated for the loan program are not subject to reversion; amending s. 380.095, F.S.; requiring that a specified amount of funds deposited into the Indian Gaming Revenue Clearing Trust Fund be distributed to the Resilient Florida Trust Fund for the revolving loan program for specified uses; authorizing the department to submit budget amendments for a certain purpose, subject to the approval of the Legislative Budget Commission; reenacting s. 373.0697, F.S., relating to basin taxes, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 373.503, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an effective date.

AI Summary

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No sponsors listed

Other Sponsors (2)

Died in returning Messages, companion bill(s) passed, see SB 2506 (Ch. 2025-201) (on 06/16/2025)

Official Document