LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

2008 State Legislative Agenda

According to a survey of the Chamber’s membership conducted in August 2007, the business climate in Florida is bad and getting worse. Fifty-five percent of our members believe the state is heading in the “wrong direction”; 75 % of those polled feel the Florida Legislature is doing a poor job; and 37 % say their business is doing worse today than it was one year ago.

More than 80 % of those responding said that the ongoing real estate slump has had a negative impact on their business, and given the current property tax and insurance crises, they are not optimistic that the market is going to bounce back anytime soon.

When asked what the Chamber’s “top three” issues should be for the 2008 Legislative Session, our members responded as follows:

Property Insurance Affordability/Availability	65.3%
Property Tax Relief	57.1
Health Insurance Reform	34.6
Transportation/Infrastructure Investment	32.6
Expanding Economic Development	32.6
Growth Management	28.5
Legal Reform/Lawsuit Abuse	20.4
Workforce Housing	16.3
Education & Workforce Development	16.3

In light of the membership’s input and upon the recommendation of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee, the Board of Directors of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce has unanimously adopted the following Legislative Agenda for 2008:

Property Insurance

• We support legislation that would increase the availability and affordability of property insurance to Florida business and home owners, without jeopardizing the financial stability of the state.

• We support legislation that mandates increased transparency in any & all state insurance filings.

Property Tax
The Legislature should consider the recommendations of the Tax & Budget Commission before taking any additional action on property tax issues. It is essential that any further legislative or constitutional “fixes” address the primary issues which concern the business community:

• The unfair process of assessing business and commercial property using the “highest and best” valuation criteria;

• The inequity in taxation of homestead vs. non-homestead property;

• The increasing unfair burden being placed upon commercial property owners by both the Save our Homes tax cap and the proposed “super homestead” exemption.

Health Insurance

• We support the passage of legislation that would allow for the creation of small business/association health plans, allowing small businesses to pool their risk and access affordable health insurance coverage, exempt from state mandates and with adequate consumer protection.

• We support the passage of legislation assuring that health care providers be adequately reimbursed for treatment which the state mandates they provide to uninsured and underinsured patients.

Transportation/Infrastructure

• We oppose the “raiding” of the Transportation Trust Fund for any use other than the funding of the eligible transportation projects for which it was created.

• We support state funding of the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority.

• We support the inclusion of links to downtown Clearwater and Clearwater Beach in any master transit plan for the Tampa Bay area.

• We support the development and implementation of state incentives to individuals and businesses for the use of alternative fuel-powered vehicles.

Economic Development

• We support the full funding of the state’s Qualified Target Industries Program, as well as the fulfillment of current QTI contracts.

• We support legislation providing tax credits for high tech companies involved in Research & Development, and creation of a matching grant program for technology-oriented R&D projects.

• The “2007-2012 Roadmap to Florida” developed by Enterprise Florida – which defines the economic development agenda for the state and local communities – should include language that recognizes the role that the arts and creative communities play as an effective catalyst for business development and retention, and that they provide our communities with a competitive advantage in economic development and tourism.

Growth Management

• We strongly oppose the proposed “Hometown Democracy” amendment to the Florida Constitution, and any attempt to subject changes in local Comprehensive Plans to public referendum.

• We support state funding of a regional reclaimed water system, including the use of reclaimed aquifer storage and recovery processes.

• We support the role and charter of Tampa Bay Water in coordinating the efforts of local water agencies.

• We support the integration of land use and transit planning to address the challenges of future growth, while building livable communities.

Legal Reform

• We oppose the so-called “Fabre fix” or any other attempt to water-down and/or eliminate the reforms made by the Legislature when it repealed the “Joint & Several” doctrine in 2006.

• We support premises liability reform that requires property owners be held accountable only for the damages they actually cause.

• We support so-called “slip-and-fall” reform that would require that personal injury trial lawyers to prove that a business did not exercise care to maintain their property in a safe condition.

• We support passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, which would:

  • Require attorneys who bring baseless or frivilous claims to pay the legal costs resulting from such claims, and

  • End the practice of “litigation tourism,” where attorneys file claims in jurisdictions where the plaintiff does not live, does not work, and/or was not injured.

Workforce Housing

• We oppose any attempt to “raid” the Affordable Housing (Sadowski) Trust Fund in any effort to balance the state’s budget deficit.

• We support removal of the cap on the Sadowski Act funds, and full appropriation of such funds for local and regional affordable (workforce) housing initiatives.

• We support legislation designed to increase the stock of affordable workforce housing.

• We support efforts to increase the flexibility of the State Housing Partnership Program.

Workforce Development

• We support the funding of workforce development, training and continuing education programs to serve all facets of the state’s workforce, including the unemployed, underemployed and employees of participating companies.

• We support increased funding and corporate investment in technical/vocational training programs administered by public school boards and community colleges.

• We support the funding of programs and strategies designed to expand the local employee base in support of the community’s “Creative Economy” efforts.

Taxation

• We support the passage of legislation that will mandate the collection of sales tax on all Internet, catalog, mail order and other sales by out-of-state companies to Florida residents and businesses, and the establishing of reciprocal agreements with other states to improve our ability to collect these revenues and enforce state tax law.

Tourism

• We support continued funding of Visit Florida to ensure our state’s continued competitiveness in the area of tourism-oriented marketing.

• We support providing incentives to encourage the growth and development of organized sporting events and competitions at all levels, recognizing that such activities are important economic drivers.

• We support the creation and funding of incentive programs designed to encourage professional sports franchises to locate and remain in Pinellas County.

• We support the expanded use of the bed tax for issues relating to tourism, marketing and the arts.