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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
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An act relating to unsolicited proposals for public -2
private partnerships; amending s. 255.065, F.S.; 3
authorizing, rather than requiring, a responsible 4
public entity to publish notice of an unsolicited 5
proposal for a qualifying project in a specified 6
manner and that other proposals for the same project 7
will be accepted; authorizing a responsible public 8
entity to proceed with an unsolicited proposal for a 9
qualifying project without a public bidding process if 10
the responsible public entity holds a public meeting 11
that meets certain requirements and holds a subsequent 12
public meeting at which the responsible public entity 13
makes a certain determination; requirin g the 14
responsible public entity to consider certain factors; 15
requiring the responsible public entity to publish a 16
certain report in the Florida Administrative Register 17
for a certain period of time in certain circumstances; 18
revising certain determinations t hat a responsible 19
public entity must make before approving a 20
comprehensive agreement; conforming provisions to 21
changes made by the act; providing an effective date. 22
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
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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 1. Present para graphs (c) through (f) of 26
subsection (3) of section 255.065, Florida Statutes, are 27
redesignated as paragraphs (e) through (h), respectively, new 28
paragraphs (c) and (d) are added to that subsection, and 29
paragraph (b) and present paragraph (d) of that subsec tion and 30
paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of that section are amended, to 31
read: 32
255.065 Public-private partnerships. — 33
(3) PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES. —A responsible public entity 34
may receive unsolicited proposals or may solicit proposals for a 35
qualifying project and may thereafter enter into a comprehensive 36
agreement with a private entity, or a consortium of private 37
entities, for the building, upgrading, operating, ownership, or 38
financing of facilities. 39
(b)1. The responsible public entity may request a prop osal 40
from private entities for a qualifying project or, if the 41
responsible public entity receives an unsolicited proposal for a 42
qualifying project and the responsible public entity intends to 43
enter into a comprehensive agreement for the project described 44
in the unsolicited proposal, the responsible public entity may 45
shall publish notice in the Florida Administrative Register and 46
a newspaper of general circulation at least once a week for 2 47
weeks stating that the responsible public entity has received a 48
proposal and will accept other proposals for the same project. 49
2. The timeframe within which the responsible public 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
entity may accept other proposals shall be determined by the 51
responsible public entity on a project -by-project basis based 52
upon the complexity of the qualifying project and the public 53
benefit to be gained by allowing a longer or shorter period of 54
time within which other proposals may be received; however, the 55
timeframe for allowing other proposals must be at least 21 days, 56
but no more than 120 d ays, after the initial date of 57
publication. If approved by a majority vote of the responsible 58
public entity's governing body, the responsible public entity 59
may alter the timeframe for accepting proposals to more 60
adequately suit the needs of the qualifying project. A copy of 61
the notice must be mailed to each local government in the 62
affected area. 63
(c) The responsible public entity may proceed with an 64
unsolicited proposal for a qualifying project without engaging 65
in a public bidding process if the responsibl e public entity 66
holds a duly noticed public meeting at which the proposal is 67
presented and affected public entities and members of the public 68
are able to provide comment and at a second duly noticed public 69
meeting determines that the proposal is in the pub lic's 70
interest. In making the public interest determination, the 71
responsible public entity must consider all of the following 72
factors: 73
1. The benefits to the public. 74
2. The financial structure of and the economic 75
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efficiencies achieved by the proposal. 76
3. The qualifications and experience of the private entity 77
that submitted the proposal and such entity's ability to perform 78
the project. 79
4. The project's compatibility with regional 80
infrastructure plans. 81
5. Public comments submitted at the meeting. T he 82
responsible public entity must provide a statement that explains 83
why the proposal should proceed and addresses such comments. 84
(d) If the responsible public entity decides to proceed 85
with an unsolicited proposal without engaging in a public 86
bidding process, the responsible public entity must publish in 87
the Florida Administrative Register for at least 7 days a report 88
that includes all of the following: 89
1. The public interest determination required under 90
paragraph (c). 91
2. The factors considered in making such public interest 92
determination. 93
3. The responsible public entity's findings based on each 94
considered factor. 95
(f)(d) Before approving a comprehensive agreement, the 96
responsible public entity must determine that t he proposed 97
project: 98
1. Is in the public's best interest , if the proposal was 99
solicited. If the proposal was unsolicited, the responsible 100
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public entity must determine that the proposed project has been 101
determined to be in the public's interest in accorda nce with 102
paragraph (c). 103
2. Is for a facility that is owned by the responsible 104
public entity or for a facility for which ownership will be 105
conveyed to the responsible public entity. For a proposed 106
project that was unsolicited, if ownership will not be con veyed 107
to the responsible public entity within 10 years after initial 108
public operation begins, the public benefits apart from 109
ownership must be identified and stated by the responsible 110
public entity in the public interest determination required 111
under paragraph (c). 112
3. Has adequate safeguards in place to ensure that 113
additional costs or service disruptions are not imposed on the 114
public in the event of material default or cancellation of the 115
comprehensive agreement by the responsible public entity. 116
4. Has adequate safeguards in place to ensure that the 117
responsible public entity or private entity has the opportunity 118
to add capacity to the proposed project or other facilities 119
serving similar predominantly public purposes. 120
5. If the proposal was solicited, will be owned by the 121
responsible public entity upon completion, expiration, or 122
termination of the comprehensive agreement and upon payment of 123
the amounts financed. 124
(5) PROJECT QUALIFICATION AND PROCESS. — 125
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(c) After the public notification period has expir ed in 126
the case of an unsolicited proposal that is submitted and 127
noticed for public bidding , the responsible public entity shall 128
rank the proposals received in order of preference. In ranking 129
the proposals, the responsible public entity may consider 130
factors that include, but are not limited to, professional 131
qualifications, general business terms, innovative design 132
techniques or cost-reduction terms, and finance plans. The 133
responsible public entity may then begin negotiations for a 134
comprehensive agreement wit h the highest-ranked firm. If the 135
responsible public entity is not satisfied with the results of 136
the negotiations, the responsible public entity may terminate 137
negotiations with the proposer and negotiate with the second -138
ranked or subsequent -ranked firms, in the order consistent with 139
this procedure. If only one proposal is received, the 140
responsible public entity may negotiate in good faith, and if 141
the responsible public entity is not satisfied with the results 142
of the negotiations, the responsible public enti ty may terminate 143
negotiations with the proposer. Notwithstanding this paragraph, 144
the responsible public entity may reject all proposals at any 145
point in the process until a contract with the proposer is 146
executed. 147
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 148