FL
Florida House Bill H0781

Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0781 Compare Versions

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1010 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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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to unsolicited proposals for public -2
1616 private partnerships; amending s. 255.065, F.S.; 3
1717 authorizing, rather than requiring, a responsible 4
1818 public entity to publish notice of an unsolicited 5
1919 proposal for a qualifying project in a specified 6
2020 manner and that other proposals for the same project 7
2121 will be accepted; authorizing a responsible public 8
2222 entity to proceed with an unsolicited proposal for a 9
2323 qualifying project without a public bidding process if 10
2424 the responsible public entity holds a public meeting 11
2525 that meets certain requirements and holds a subsequent 12
2626 public meeting at which the responsible public entity 13
2727 makes a certain determination; requirin g the 14
2828 responsible public entity to consider certain factors; 15
2929 requiring the responsible public entity to publish a 16
3030 certain report in the Florida Administrative Register 17
3131 for a certain period of time in certain circumstances; 18
3232 revising certain determinations t hat a responsible 19
3333 public entity must make before approving a 20
3434 comprehensive agreement; conforming provisions to 21
3535 changes made by the act; providing an effective date. 22
3636 23
3737 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
3838 25
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4747 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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5151 Section 1. Present para graphs (c) through (f) of 26
5252 subsection (3) of section 255.065, Florida Statutes, are 27
5353 redesignated as paragraphs (e) through (h), respectively, new 28
5454 paragraphs (c) and (d) are added to that subsection, and 29
5555 paragraph (b) and present paragraph (d) of that subsec tion and 30
5656 paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of that section are amended, to 31
5757 read: 32
5858 255.065 Public-private partnerships. — 33
5959 (3) PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES. —A responsible public entity 34
6060 may receive unsolicited proposals or may solicit proposals for a 35
6161 qualifying project and may thereafter enter into a comprehensive 36
6262 agreement with a private entity, or a consortium of private 37
6363 entities, for the building, upgrading, operating, ownership, or 38
6464 financing of facilities. 39
6565 (b)1. The responsible public entity may request a prop osal 40
6666 from private entities for a qualifying project or, if the 41
6767 responsible public entity receives an unsolicited proposal for a 42
6868 qualifying project and the responsible public entity intends to 43
6969 enter into a comprehensive agreement for the project described 44
7070 in the unsolicited proposal, the responsible public entity may 45
7171 shall publish notice in the Florida Administrative Register and 46
7272 a newspaper of general circulation at least once a week for 2 47
7373 weeks stating that the responsible public entity has received a 48
7474 proposal and will accept other proposals for the same project. 49
7575 2. The timeframe within which the responsible public 50
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8484 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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8888 entity may accept other proposals shall be determined by the 51
8989 responsible public entity on a project -by-project basis based 52
9090 upon the complexity of the qualifying project and the public 53
9191 benefit to be gained by allowing a longer or shorter period of 54
9292 time within which other proposals may be received; however, the 55
9393 timeframe for allowing other proposals must be at least 21 days, 56
9494 but no more than 120 d ays, after the initial date of 57
9595 publication. If approved by a majority vote of the responsible 58
9696 public entity's governing body, the responsible public entity 59
9797 may alter the timeframe for accepting proposals to more 60
9898 adequately suit the needs of the qualifying project. A copy of 61
9999 the notice must be mailed to each local government in the 62
100100 affected area. 63
101101 (c) The responsible public entity may proceed with an 64
102102 unsolicited proposal for a qualifying project without engaging 65
103103 in a public bidding process if the responsibl e public entity 66
104104 holds a duly noticed public meeting at which the proposal is 67
105105 presented and affected public entities and members of the public 68
106106 are able to provide comment and at a second duly noticed public 69
107107 meeting determines that the proposal is in the pub lic's 70
108108 interest. In making the public interest determination, the 71
109109 responsible public entity must consider all of the following 72
110110 factors: 73
111111 1. The benefits to the public. 74
112112 2. The financial structure of and the economic 75
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121121 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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125125 efficiencies achieved by the proposal. 76
126126 3. The qualifications and experience of the private entity 77
127127 that submitted the proposal and such entity's ability to perform 78
128128 the project. 79
129129 4. The project's compatibility with regional 80
130130 infrastructure plans. 81
131131 5. Public comments submitted at the meeting. T he 82
132132 responsible public entity must provide a statement that explains 83
133133 why the proposal should proceed and addresses such comments. 84
134134 (d) If the responsible public entity decides to proceed 85
135135 with an unsolicited proposal without engaging in a public 86
136136 bidding process, the responsible public entity must publish in 87
137137 the Florida Administrative Register for at least 7 days a report 88
138138 that includes all of the following: 89
139139 1. The public interest determination required under 90
140140 paragraph (c). 91
141141 2. The factors considered in making such public interest 92
142142 determination. 93
143143 3. The responsible public entity's findings based on each 94
144144 considered factor. 95
145145 (f)(d) Before approving a comprehensive agreement, the 96
146146 responsible public entity must determine that t he proposed 97
147147 project: 98
148148 1. Is in the public's best interest , if the proposal was 99
149149 solicited. If the proposal was unsolicited, the responsible 100
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158158 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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162162 public entity must determine that the proposed project has been 101
163163 determined to be in the public's interest in accorda nce with 102
164164 paragraph (c). 103
165165 2. Is for a facility that is owned by the responsible 104
166166 public entity or for a facility for which ownership will be 105
167167 conveyed to the responsible public entity. For a proposed 106
168168 project that was unsolicited, if ownership will not be con veyed 107
169169 to the responsible public entity within 10 years after initial 108
170170 public operation begins, the public benefits apart from 109
171171 ownership must be identified and stated by the responsible 110
172172 public entity in the public interest determination required 111
173173 under paragraph (c). 112
174174 3. Has adequate safeguards in place to ensure that 113
175175 additional costs or service disruptions are not imposed on the 114
176176 public in the event of material default or cancellation of the 115
177177 comprehensive agreement by the responsible public entity. 116
178178 4. Has adequate safeguards in place to ensure that the 117
179179 responsible public entity or private entity has the opportunity 118
180180 to add capacity to the proposed project or other facilities 119
181181 serving similar predominantly public purposes. 120
182182 5. If the proposal was solicited, will be owned by the 121
183183 responsible public entity upon completion, expiration, or 122
184184 termination of the comprehensive agreement and upon payment of 123
185185 the amounts financed. 124
186186 (5) PROJECT QUALIFICATION AND PROCESS. — 125
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195195 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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199199 (c) After the public notification period has expir ed in 126
200200 the case of an unsolicited proposal that is submitted and 127
201201 noticed for public bidding , the responsible public entity shall 128
202202 rank the proposals received in order of preference. In ranking 129
203203 the proposals, the responsible public entity may consider 130
204204 factors that include, but are not limited to, professional 131
205205 qualifications, general business terms, innovative design 132
206206 techniques or cost-reduction terms, and finance plans. The 133
207207 responsible public entity may then begin negotiations for a 134
208208 comprehensive agreement wit h the highest-ranked firm. If the 135
209209 responsible public entity is not satisfied with the results of 136
210210 the negotiations, the responsible public entity may terminate 137
211211 negotiations with the proposer and negotiate with the second -138
212212 ranked or subsequent -ranked firms, in the order consistent with 139
213213 this procedure. If only one proposal is received, the 140
214214 responsible public entity may negotiate in good faith, and if 141
215215 the responsible public entity is not satisfied with the results 142
216216 of the negotiations, the responsible public enti ty may terminate 143
217217 negotiations with the proposer. Notwithstanding this paragraph, 144
218218 the responsible public entity may reject all proposals at any 145
219219 point in the process until a contract with the proposer is 146
220220 executed. 147
221221 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 148