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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to rural development; amending s. 2
288.018, F.S.; reducing the required grant match 3
percentage rate and authorizing in -kind contributions 4
under the Regional Rural Development Grants Program; 5
amending s. 288.065, F.S.; removing a match 6
requirement from the Rural Community Development 7
Revolving Loan Fund under specified conditions; 8
amending s. 288.0655, F.S.; revising provisions 9
related to the Rural Infrastructure Fund; increasing 10
the percentage of grants that the Department of 11
Economic Opportunity may award; revising criteria for 12
awarding grants; removing the local match requirement; 13
providing an effective date. 14
15
Be It Enacted by the Legis lature of the State of Florida: 16
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Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 18
288.018, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 19
288.018 Regional Rural Development Grants Program. — 20
(1) 21
(d) Grant funds received by a regional economic 22
development organization must be matched each year by nonstate 23
financial or in-kind contributions resources in an amount equal 24
to 15 25 percent of the state contribution. 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 26
288.065, Florida Statutes, is amende d to read: 27
288.065 Rural Community Development Revolving Loan Fund. — 28
(2) 29
(c) All repayments of principal and interest shall be 30
returned to the loan fund and made available for loans to other 31
applicants. However, in a rural area of opportunity designat ed 32
by the Governor, and upon approval by the department, repayments 33
of principal and interest may be retained by the applicant if 34
such repayments are dedicated and matched to fund regionally 35
based economic development organizations representing the rural 36
area of opportunity. 37
Section 3. Subsection (1), paragraphs (b), (c), and (e) of 38
subsection (2), and subsection (3) of section 288.0655, Florida 39
Statutes, are amended to read: 40
288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund. — 41
(1) There is created within the depar tment the Rural 42
Infrastructure Fund to facilitate the planning, preparing, and 43
financing of infrastructure projects in rural communities which 44
will encourage job creation, capital investment, and the 45
strengthening and diversification of rural economies by 46
promoting tourism, trade, and economic development. 47
(2) 48
(b) To facilitate access of rural communities and rural 49
areas of opportunity as defined by the Rural Economic 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Development Initiative to infrastructure funding programs of the 51
Federal Government, such as those offered by the United States 52
Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of 53
Commerce, and state programs, including those offered by Rural 54
Economic Development Initiative agencies, and to facilitate 55
local government or private infrastructure funding efforts, the 56
department may award grants for up to 75 50 percent of the total 57
infrastructure project cost. Eligible projects must be related 58
to specific job-creation or job-retention opportunities. 59
Eligible uses of funds projects may also include improving any 60
inadequate infrastructure that has resulted in regulatory action 61
that prohibits economic or community growth, reducing the costs 62
to community users of proposed infrastructure improvements that 63
exceed such costs in comparable communities, and improving 64
access to and the availability of broadband Internet service. 65
Eligible uses of funds shall include improvements to public 66
infrastructure for industrial or commercial sites, upgrades to 67
or development of public to urism infrastructure, and 68
improvements to broadband Internet service and access in 69
unserved or underserved rural communities. Improvements to 70
broadband Internet service and access must be conducted through 71
a partnership or partnerships with one or more dea lers, as 72
defined in s. 202.11(2), and the partnership or partnerships 73
must be established through a competitive selection process that 74
is publicly noticed. Authorized infrastructure may include the 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
following public or public -private partnership facilities: storm 76
water systems; telecommunications facilities; broadband 77
facilities; roads or other remedies to transportation 78
impediments; nature-based tourism facilities; or other physical 79
requirements necessary to facilitate tourism, trade, and 80
economic development activities in the community. Authorized 81
infrastructure may also include publicly or privately owned 82
self-powered nature-based tourism facilities, publicly owned 83
telecommunications facilities, and broadband facilities, and 84
additions to the distribution f acilities of the existing natural 85
gas utility as defined in s. 366.04(3)(c), the existing electric 86
utility as defined in s. 366.02, or the existing water or 87
wastewater utility as defined in s. 367.021(12), or any other 88
existing water or wastewater facility , which owns a gas or 89
electric distribution system or a water or wastewater system in 90
this state where: 91
1. A contribution-in-aid of construction is required to 92
serve public or public -private partnership facilities under the 93
tariffs of any natural gas, el ectric, water, or wastewater 94
utility as defined herein; and 95
2. Such utilities as defined herein are willing and able 96
to provide such service. 97
(c) To facilitate timely response and induce the location 98
or expansion of specific job creating opportunities, The 99
department may award grants of up to $300,000 for infrastructure 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
feasibility studies, design and engineering activities, or other 101
infrastructure planning and preparation activities. Authorized 102
grants shall be up to $50,000 for an employment project wi th a 103
business committed to create at least 100 jobs; up to $150,000 104
for an employment project with a business committed to create at 105
least 300 jobs; and up to $300,000 for a project in a rural area 106
of opportunity. Grants awarded under this paragraph may be used 107
in conjunction with grants awarded under paragraph (b) , provided 108
that the total amount of both grants does not exceed 30 percent 109
of the total project cost . In evaluating applications under this 110
paragraph, the department shall consider the extent to w hich the 111
application seeks to minimize administrative and consultant 112
expenses. 113
(e) To enable local governments to access the resources 114
available pursuant to s. 403.973(18), the department may award 115
grants for surveys, feasibility studies, and other activ ities 116
related to the identification and preclearance review of land 117
which is suitable for preclearance review. Authorized grants 118
under this paragraph do not require a local match and may not 119
exceed $75,000 each, except in the case of a project in a rural 120
area of opportunity, in which case the grant may not exceed 121
$300,000. Any funds awarded under this paragraph must be matched 122
at a level of 50 percent with local funds, except that any funds 123
awarded for a project in a rural area of opportunity must be 124
matched at a level of 33 percent with local funds. If an 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
application for funding is for a catalyst site, as defined in s. 126
288.0656, the requirement for local match may be waived pursuant 127
to the process in s. 288.06561. In evaluating applications under 128
this paragraph, the department shall consider the extent to 129
which the application seeks to minimize administrative and 130
consultant expenses. 131
(3) The department, in consultation with Enterprise 132
Florida, Inc., the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing 133
Corporation, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the 134
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as 135
appropriate, shall review and certify applications pursuant to 136
s. 288.061. The review shall include an evaluation of the 137
economic benefit of the projects and their long-term viability. 138
The department shall have final approval for any grant under 139
this section. 140
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 141