Bill Text: FL S0666 | 2020 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Florida Development Finance Corporation
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 3-1)
Status: (Failed) 2020-03-14 - Died in Messages [S0666 Detail]
Download: Florida-2020-S0666-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2020 CS for CS for CS for SB 666 By the Committees on Rules; Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Commerce and Tourism; and Senator Mayfield 595-04237-20 2020666c3 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Florida Development Finance 3 Corporation; amending s. 20.60, F.S.; requiring the 4 executive director of the Department of Economic 5 Opportunity to serve as a member of the board of 6 directors of the Florida Development Finance 7 Corporation; authorizing the executive director to 8 designate a department employee to serve in this 9 capacity; requiring that the annual report of the 10 corporation be incorporated into the department’s 11 annual report on the condition of the business climate 12 and economic development in the state; requiring the 13 department to develop performance standards for the 14 corporation and to include certain information 15 relating to the standards in the department’s annual 16 report; amending s. 288.9604, F.S.; revising the 17 membership of the board of directors of the 18 corporation; requiring that the director of the 19 Division of Bond Finance of the State Board of 20 Administration, or his or her designee, serve on the 21 board of directors of the corporation; making 22 conforming changes; authorizing meetings of the 23 directors to be conducted by teleconference; providing 24 for future repeals; requiring the chair and vice chair 25 of the board of directors of the corporation to serve 26 as regular members of the board after a specified 27 date; providing construction; amending s. 288.9605, 28 F.S.; providing for the electronic execution and 29 delivery of certain documents executed by the 30 corporation; amending s. 288.9606, F.S.; prohibiting 31 certain bonds, notes, and other forms of indebtedness 32 from exceeding a specified amount of time; specifying 33 that certain bonds are payable solely from certain 34 revenues; providing requirements for such bonds; 35 amending s. 288.9610, F.S.; revising the entities to 36 which the corporation is required to submit an annual 37 report containing specified information; creating s. 38 288.9619, F.S.; requiring that certain conflicts of 39 interest be publicly disclosed to the corporation and 40 set forth in the corporation’s minutes; prohibiting a 41 director with a conflict of interest from taking 42 certain actions; providing an effective date. 43 44 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 45 46 Section 1. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (9) of 47 section 20.60, Florida Statutes, and paragraph (b) of subsection 48 (10) and subsection (11) of that section are amended, to read: 49 20.60 Department of Economic Opportunity; creation; powers 50 and duties.— 51 (9) The executive director shall: 52 (c) Serve as a member of the board of directors of the 53 Florida Development Finance Corporation. The executive director 54 may designate an employee of the department to serve in this 55 capacity. 56 (10) The department, with assistance from Enterprise 57 Florida, Inc., shall, by November 1 of each year, submit an 58 annual report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and 59 the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the condition of 60 the business climate and economic development in the state. 61 (b) The report must incorporate annual reports of other 62 programs, including: 63 1. Information provided by the Department of Revenue under 64 s. 290.014. 65 2. Information provided by enterprise zone development 66 agencies under s. 290.0056 and an analysis of the activities and 67 accomplishments of each enterprise zone. 68 3. The Economic Gardening Business Loan Pilot Program 69 established under s. 288.1081 and the Economic Gardening 70 Technical Assistance Pilot Program established under s. 71 288.1082. 72 4. A detailed report of the performance of the Black 73 Business Loan Program and a cumulative summary of quarterly 74 report data required under s. 288.714. 75 5. The Rural Economic Development Initiative established 76 under s. 288.0656. 77 6. The Florida Unique Abilities Partner Program. 78 7. A detailed report of the performance of the Florida 79 Development Finance Corporation and a summary of the 80 corporation’s report required under s. 288.9610. 81 (11) The department shall establish annual performance 82 standards for Enterprise Florida, Inc., CareerSource Florida, 83 Inc., the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation,and84 Space Florida, and the Florida Development Finance Corporation 85 and report annually on how these performance measures are being 86 met in the annual report required under subsection (10). 87 Section 2. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section 88 288.9604, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (5) is 89 added to that section, to read: 90 288.9604 Creation of the authority.— 91 (2) The board of directors of the corporation shall consist 92 of seven directors. The executive director of the department, or 93 his or her designee, shall serve as chair of the board of 94 directors of the corporation. The director of the Division of 95 Bond Finance of the State Board of Administration, or his or her 96 designee, shall serve as a director of the board of directors of 97 the corporation. The Governor, subject to confirmation by the 98 Senate, shall appoint the remaining five directors of the board 99 of directors of the corporation, who shall be five in number. 100 The terms of office for the appointed directors shall be for 4 101 years from the date of their appointment. A vacancy occurring 102 during a term of an appointed director shall be filled for the 103 unexpired term. A director shall be eligible for reappointment. 104 At least three of the appointed directors of the corporation 105 shall have experience in financebe bankerswho have been106selected by the Governor from a list of bankers who were107nominated by Enterprise Florida, Inc., and one of the directors 108 shall have experience inbe aneconomic developmentspecialist. 109 (3)(a)1. A director may not receive compensation for his or 110 her services, but is entitled to necessary expenses, including 111 travel expenses, incurred in the discharge of his or her duties. 112 Each appointed director shall hold office until his or her 113 successor has been appointed. 114 2. Directors are subject to ss. 112.313(1)-(8), (10), (12), 115 and (15); 112.3135; and 112.3143(2). For purposes of applying 116 ss. 112.313(1)-(8), (10), (12), and (15); 112.3135; and 117 112.3143(2) to activities of directors, directors shall be 118 considered public officers and the corporation shall be 119 considered their agency. 120 (b) The powers of the corporation shall be exercised by the 121 directors thereof. A majority of the directors constitutes a 122 quorum for the purposes of conducting business and exercising 123 the powers of the corporation and for all other purposes. 124 Meetings of the directors may be conducted by teleconference. 125 Action may be taken by the corporation upon a vote of a majority 126 of the directors present, unless in any case the bylaws require 127 a larger number. Any person may be appointed as director if he 128 or she resides, or is engaged in business, which means owning a 129 business, practicing a profession, or performing a service for 130 compensation or serving as an officer or director of a 131 corporation or other business entity so engaged, within the 132 state. 133 (c) The directors of the corporation shall annually elect, 134 by a majority vote, one of their members aschair and one as135 vice chair. The corporation may employ a president, technical 136 experts, and such other agents and employees, permanent and 137 temporary, as it requires and determine their qualifications, 138 duties, and compensation. For such legal services as it 139 requires, the corporation may employ or retain its own counsel 140 and legal staff. 141 (4) The board may remove an appointedadirector for 142 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct in office. Such 143 director may be removed only after a hearing and only if he or 144 she has been given a copy of the charges at least 10 days before 145 such hearing and has had an opportunity to be heard in person or 146 by counsel. The removal of a director shall create a vacancy on 147 the board which shall be filled pursuant to subsection (2). 148 (5) This section is repealed July 1, 2023, and July 1 of 149 every fourth year thereafter, unless reviewed and saved from 150 repeal by the Legislature. 151 Section 3. In order to implement the changes made by this 152 act to s. 288.9604, Florida Statutes, the chair and vice chair 153 of the board of directors of the Florida Development Finance 154 Corporation as of June 30, 2020, shall serve as regular members 155 beginning July 1, 2020. Nothing in this act may be construed to 156 affect the terms of the directors serving on the board on July 157 1, 2020. 158 Section 4. Subsection (3) is added to section 288.9605, 159 Florida Statutes, to read: 160 288.9605 Corporation powers.— 161 (3) Documents, agreements, and instruments executed by the 162 corporation may be executed and delivered in accordance with the 163 Electronic Signature Act of 1996. 164 Section 5. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 288.9606, 165 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 166 288.9606 Issue of revenue bonds.— 167 (1) When authorized by a public agency pursuant to s. 168 163.01(7), the corporation has power in its corporate capacity, 169 in its discretion, to issue revenue bonds or other evidences of 170 indebtedness which a public agency has the power to issue, from 171 time to time to finance the undertaking of any purpose of this 172 act, including, without limiting the generality thereof, the 173 payment of principal and interest upon any advances for surveys 174 and plans or preliminary loans, and has the power to issue 175 refunding bonds for the payment or retirement of bonds 176 previously issued. Bonds issued pursuant to this section shall 177 bear the name “Florida Development Finance Corporation Revenue 178 Bonds.” The security for such bonds may be based upon such 179 revenues as are legally available. In anticipation of the sale 180 of such revenue bonds, the corporation may issue bond 181 anticipation notes and may renew such notes from time to time, 182 but the maximum maturity of any such note, including renewals 183 thereof, may not exceed 5 years from the date of issuance of the 184 original note. Such notes shall be paid from any revenues of the 185 corporation available therefor and not otherwise pledged or from 186 the proceeds of sale of the revenue bonds in anticipation of 187 which they were issued. Any bond, note, or other form of 188 indebtedness issued pursuant to this act may not exceed 35 years 189 from their respective dates of issuanceshall mature no later190than the end of the 30th fiscal year after the fiscal year in191which the bond, note, or other form of indebtedness was issued. 192 (2) Bonds issued under this section do not constitute an 193 indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional or 194 statutory debt limitation or restriction, and are not subject to 195 the provisions of any other law or charter relating to the 196 authorization, issuance, or sale of bonds. Bonds issued under 197the provisions ofthis act are declared to be for an essential 198 public and governmental purpose. Bonds issued under this act, 199the interest on which is exempt from income taxes of the United200States,together with interest thereon and income therefrom, are 201 exempted from all taxes, except those taxes imposed by chapter 202 220, on interest, income, or profits on debt obligations owned 203 by corporations. Bonds issued under this part are not a debt, 204 liability, or obligation of the state or any subdivision 205 thereof, or a pledge of faith and credit of the corporation or 206 of the state or of any such political subdivision thereof, but 207 are payable solely from the revenues provided therefor. Each 208 bond issued under this part shall contain on the face thereof a 209 statement to the effect that the corporation is not obligated to 210 pay the same or interest thereon from the revenues and proceeds 211 pledged therefor, and that the faith and credit or the taxing 212 power of the corporation or of the state or of any political 213 subdivision thereof is not pledged to the payment of the 214 principal of or the interest on such bonds. 215 Section 6. Section 288.9610, Florida Statutes, is amended 216 to read: 217 288.9610 Annual reports of Florida Development Finance 218 Corporation.—On or before 90 days after the close of the Florida 219 Development Finance Corporation’s fiscal year, the corporation 220 shall submit to the Governor, the Legislature, the Auditor 221 General, the Department of Economic Opportunity, and the 222 governing body of each public entity for which the corporation 223 issues revenue bonds pursuant to s. 288.9606 or with which it 224 has entered into an interlocal agreement a complete and detailed 225 report setting forth: 226 (1) The results of any audit conducted pursuant to s. 227 11.45. 228 (2) The activities, operations, and accomplishments of the 229 Florida Development Finance Corporation, including the number of 230 businesses assisted by the corporation. 231 (3) Its assets, liabilities, income, and operating expenses 232 at the end of its most recent fiscal year, including a 233 description of all of its outstanding revenue bonds. 234 Section 7. Section 288.9619, Florida Statutes, is created 235 to read: 236 288.9619 Conflicts of interest.—If any director has a 237 direct or indirect interest associated with any party to an 238 application on which the corporation has taken or will take 239 action in exercising its power for the issuance of revenue bonds 240 or other evidences of indebtedness, such interest must be 241 publicly disclosed to the corporation and set forth in the 242 minutes of the corporation. The director that has such interest 243 may not participate in any action by the corporation with 244 respect to such party and application. 245 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.