Brevard County Chambers – 2016 Legislative Agenda

The Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce, Melbourne Regional Chamber of Commerce, The Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, and the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce have jointly identified the following priorities during the 2016 Florida Legislative Session.

The Chambers Support or Oppose the following bills:

  • Support SB 756: Department of Transportation – Increasing the minimum amount that must be made available annually from the State Transportation Trust Fund to fund the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Program, from $15M to $25M.
  • Support HB 311: Research and Development Tax Credit – Increases total amount of research & development tax credits from $9M to $23M.
  • Support SB 0098/HB 115: Exemption from the Sales and Use Tax Manufactures – Removes expiration date for exemption of sales and use tax for certain industrial machinery and equipment.
  • Support SB 116/HB 247: Tax on Sales, Use, and Other Transactions – Reducing the tax levied on rental or license fees charged for the use of real property, etc. from 6% to 5%.
  • Support HB 215: Sales Tax on Commercial Real Property – Provides certain exemptions from tax imposed on rental or license fees charged for use of commercial real property; provides for future repeal of tax.
  • Support SB 398: Economic Incentives for Small Technology Companies – Revising the legislative findings and intent to include small technology companies; defining the term “small technology company”; authorizing the provision of loans to small technology companies through the Microfinance Guarantee Program, etc. Appropriation: $50,000,000.00
  • Support HB 219: Tax-Exempt Income – Increases amount of income exempt from corporate income tax from $50K to $75K; increases amount of income exempt from franchise tax imposed on banks & savings associations; provides applicability.
  • Oppose HB 109/SB 006: State Minimum Wage – Increases state minimum wage to $15 per hour; prohibits employer from paying employee at rate less than state minimum wage; removes limitation restricting application of state minimum wage only to individuals entitled to receive federal minimum wage.
  • Oppose SB 384: Employment Practices – Citing this act as the “Florida Paid Family Care Leave Act”; requiring an employer to allow an employee to take paid family care leave to bond with a new child upon the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement; requiring an employer to provide notice to employees of the right to paid family care leave; revising the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 to prohibit specified employment practices on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, etc.
  • Oppose HB 205/SB 294: Florida Healthy Working Families Act – Provides powers & duties of executive director of DEO; requires certain employers to provide employees with earned sick & safe leave under certain conditions; provides employer & employee requirements; authorizes employee to file civil action under certain conditions.

The Chambers support funding requests for the following projects:

  • City of Melbourne’s request for $400,000 for the Florida Avenue Flooding and Water Quality Project
  • City of Melbourne’s request for $600,000 for the Eau Gallie Dam Design and Reconstruction Project
  • Air Traffic Control Tower Replacement at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport – $5,500,000 Project Total
  • Passenger Terminal Transformation at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport – $21,330,000 Project Total
  • Funding to restore Florida’s surface waters and especially the Indian River Lagoon
  • St. Johns Heritage Parkway System – Continue local/state partnerships to identify funding for all segments of the parkway from the south I-95 Interchange to Ellis Road
  • Secure funding for construction of the Ellis Road interchange and for widening Ellis Road to four lanes. Pursue Strategic Intermodal System designation
  • A1A Corridor – Implement improvements to the A1A corridor from Pineda Causeway to Port Canaveral as recommended in the FDOT feasibility study
  • SR 528 – Expand multimodal options on SR 528 including, but not limited to bicycles/pedestrian/recreation features and accommodations for increased freight
  • Complete the Rail Trail and KSC Loop Trail to Close the Gaps – Allocate state transportation trust funds to be used for development of regional multi-purpose trails including the East Central Florida Regional Rail Trail and the Kennedy Space Center Loop Trail, and the East Coast Greenway in Brevard.

Additional Chamber Legislative Priorities:

  • Support expansion of Port Canaveral through an inland port in North Brevard to encourage more cargo business and further growth in the economy
  • Encourage FDOT to pursue rail services connectivity to North Brevard County and continue expansion of commuter service in Brevard
  • Oppose use of Tourist Development Tax for any other purpose
  • Support sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment to make Florida more equally competitive with other Southern states that either already exempt this tax or have rates much lower than Florida
  • Invest in Space Transportation Infrastructure – Continue to prioritize and fund spaceport projects in the Strategic Intermodal System five year plan, and incorporate spaceports into all long-range transportation plans
  • Support legislation to encourage affordable and available quality property insurance
  • Encourage the State of Florida to aggressively pursue any and all commercial, public, private or partnership compatible opportunities available that can be operated from Kenney Space Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the 45th Space Wing or the Naval Ordinance Test Facility (NOTU) and Space Coast Regional Airport
  • Invest in Space Transportation Infrastructure – Continue to prioritize and fund spaceport projects in the Strategic Intermodal System five year plan. Incorporate spaceports into all long-range transportation plans and programs with specific policies and procedures for spaceport development
  • Encourage the continuation of tax abatements as an incentive for economic development in local communities, as well as their use in qualifications for state incentives
  • Support funding for state higher education institutions to keep higher education affordable for Florida citizens
  • Support the availability of quality health care coverage for the working poor; those that do not receive coverage from their employer, do not quality for subsidies under Affordable Care Act, and do not make enough to afford coverage on their own

The Chambers also support for following organization’s agendas and legislative priorities:

  • Enterprise Florida’s Legislative Agenda;
  • Space Florida’s Legislative Agenda;
  • VISIT Florida’s 2016-2017 funding request; and
  • Central Florida Partnership Regional Priorities