GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

2007 Legislative Platform
The results of a government affairs survey and a membership survey indicate members have the strongest concerns in:

• Energy Supply Costs

• Finding Skilled/Qualified/Motivated Workers

• Health Insurance Costs and Affordability

• Lawsuit Abuse

• Property Insurance Costs

• Property Taxes (Relief)

• Roads and Transportation

• Workers’ Compensation Insurance Costs

• Workforce Housing Costs

Education/Immigration/Workforce

• Provide resources for the recruitment and retention of teachers in the state; provide salaries that are competitive in the Southeast;

• Support legislation that returns a higher percentage of dollars to Pinellas County by changing the current formula that redistributes state sales tax to the school system;

• Allow Florida’s Community Contribution Tax Incentive Program to include local education foundations;

• Provide adequate resources for workforce development programs that not only provide training and jobs to unemployed and underemployed but funds continuing education programs offered by participating companies;

• Support increased funding of and corporate use of the Earned Income Tax Credit employee programs;

• Support strategies to expand the local employee base in concert with the community’s creative economy efforts;

• Oppose lowering the standards and expectations of local students such as passed legislation that reduces the number of credit hours to 18 for graduation;

• Support increased funding and corporate investment in technical schools, specifically those associated with local school boards;

• Support increased funding for workforce training and vocational education for community colleges and public schools;

• Support consideration given to limiting the new minimum wage to only those employees eligible to receive the federal minimum wage and require that prior to filing suit upon the employer’s failure to automatically adjust the annual wage increase, the employee must notify the employer of the violation and give them 15 days to resolve any claims for unpaid wages;

• Comprehensive Immigration Reform – Provide a practical mechanism for employers to fill vacancies with immigrant workers when American workers are not available;

• Support initiatives to promote community (attainable) housing available to low- and moderate-wage workers who are getting priced out of the market;

• Strongly urge legislators to support removal of the cap on the Sadowski Act funds and full appropriation for state and local housing trust funds;

• More flexibility built into the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program.

Health Care

• Small Business Health Plans – Secure legislation that would allow small businesses to pool risk and access health coverage exempt from state mandates; Advocate passage of legislation establishing small business health plans (SBHPs), also known as association health plans (AHPs) which would allow small businesses to pool risk and access health coverage without regard to state mandates;

• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) – Encourage the expansion of HSAs by making it easier for small businesses and individuals to participate;

• Support local and state legislation that reduces the amount of money private health care providers must spend on care (specifically indigent care) that is mandated by law but not paid for by insurance or government;

• Support funding for local health insurance programs for the working poor and uninsured population to have access to some type of health coverage and increase the option available to these consumers.

Insurance Reform

• Support legislation that ensures municipalities include workers’ compensation for first responders (law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and volunteer firefighter) to avoid the beginning of a separate workers’ compensation system;

• Support increased availability and affordability of property insurance to Florida business owners and homeowners.

Legal Reform

• Support legislation that lessens businesses’ liability when someone is injured by a crime or hazard on their property. This will provide protection to retailers in cases where a foreign substance caused a person to become injured as long as the retailer did not have prior knowledge of the existence of the substance;

• Support legislation that provides product sellers with some protection from liability as long as they are not aware that any of the products they are selling are dangerous or malfunctioning;

• Support education initiatives to inform businesses of basic Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and support legislation that allows a business to reach ADA compliancy when made aware of an infraction;

• Frivolous Claims – Pass the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, which would force lawyers who bring baseless or frivolous claims to pay the legal costs resulting from such claims. The bill also would end the practice of “litigation tourism,” in which plaintiffs’ lawyers file claims in jurisdictions where the plaintiff does not live, was not injured, and does not work.

Taxation

• Support Penny 3 (Penny for Pinellas 2010-2020)that involves voter approval in March 2007;

• Support a review of current sales tax exemptions;

• Support legislation that establishes fair and uniform formulas for the collection of impact fees that if excessive can drive up the cost of new development in our state. Local governments can collect impact fees to pay for capital improvements based on the impacts of the new development, and then tax these same homeowners via ad valorem taxes to pay twice for the same capital improvements;

• Support state legislation that will provide the means to collect uncollected Internet sales tax, as well as catalog, mail order and any other out-of-state companies that sell products to Florida residents via the Internet, thereby remitting it to the state;

• Property tax relief: The Clearwater Chamber supports holding government more accountable for extraordinary property tax increases and the continued shifting of the property tax burden onto employers.

Tourism

• Support the expansion of the use of the bed tax for issues related to tourism, marketing and the arts;

• Strongly encourage that the legislature continue its Visit Florida funding support to ensure Florida remains competitive in tourism marketing;

• Support incentives to encourage growth of amateur and professional sports, as it is considered a very important part of economic development to state and local communities.

Transportation

• Support request for additional state and federal funding for the improvement of US 19;

• Support investigation into determining and establishing varied transit options;

• Support local and state policy changes to increase funding options for aesthetic improvements for public roadway projects;

• Support federal/state funding for the Roosevelt connector and 118th St. (CR 296) connector to I-275;

• Encourage the implementation of a regional transportation authority such as granting legislative and funding power to the Chairman’s Coordinating Council;

• Support implementation and funding for countywide “smart” traffic lights—based on traffic conditions monitored and coordinated by a central system light timing can be enhanced to aid traffic flow;

• Support enforcement of traffic signal violations.

Urban Redevelopment/Economic Development

• Reinstate state funding of the Brownfield’s program;

• Continue Enterprise Zone funding of local projects, specifically the building materials sales tax refund. The Enterprise Zone Act is an economic development tool which is used by economic developers as an incentive to induce private businesses to invest in areas deemed suffering from pervasive poverty, unemployment or general stress;

• Fulfill current Qualified Target Industry (QTI) contracts, the state’s most widely used business incentive program that is an effective way to help create high wage jobs as part of the Florida’s overall economic development strategy;

• Support the City of Clearwater proposal for construction of boat slips off Coachman Park that involves voter approval in the March 2007 referendum.

Water/Growth Management

• Support a review of the local sources first legislation;

• Support and encourage an effective regional reclaimed water system, including low demand options such as reclaimed aquifer storage and recovery;

• Oppose efforts to move approval of changes in Comprehensive Plans to public referendum;

• Advance efforts to 1) reduce the role of the Department of Community Affairs in local government decisions; 2) review the Development of Regional Impact (DRI) thresholds and support increases necessary for redevelopment; and 3) retain existing laws and rules that provide integration of the capital facilities elements of local plans with regional water supply plans adopted by Florida’s five water management districts;

• Maintain the integrity of Tampa Bay Water and the partnership of local authorities.

Clearwater Chamber Policy Statements

• The Chamber supports the continued partnerships between local and regional entities.

• The Chamber supports planned growth with local input in regard to comprehensive plans, environmental permitting and growth management. The Chamber will seek growth management reforms that will reduce costs and bureaucratic complexity and better serve the needs of a growing and diverse state.

• The Chamber supports the continued efforts of tort reform.

• The Chamber reaffirms its continued support for the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s regional approach to advertising and marketing our destinations. The Chamber is opposed to allowing bed tax funds that have been earmarked for countywide advertising and promotion activities to be distributed back to local areas based on their proportion of tax collections. These funds must remain a countywide resource for marketing Pinellas County as a unified tourist destination.

• Maintain non-profit association rights including communication to members.

• Oppose unfunded mandates to local government.

• Support a review of the constitutional amendment process.

• The Chamber recognizes the important role the arts play in economic, tourist and community development and the importance of attracting and retaining creative employees.