Florida Senate - 2024 CS for SB 870 By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Senator Boyd 585-02355-24 2024870c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to unsolicited proposals for public 3 private partnerships; amending s. 255.065, F.S.; 4 authorizing, rather than requiring, a responsible 5 public entity to publish notice of an unsolicited 6 proposal for a qualifying project in a specified 7 manner and that other proposals for the same project 8 will be accepted; authorizing a responsible public 9 entity to proceed with an unsolicited proposal for a 10 qualifying project without a public bidding process if 11 the responsible public entity holds a public meeting 12 that meets certain requirements and holds a subsequent 13 public meeting at which it makes a certain 14 determination; requiring the responsible public entity 15 to consider certain factors; requiring the responsible 16 public entity to publish a certain report in the 17 Florida Administrative Register for a certain period 18 of time in certain circumstances; revising certain 19 determinations that a responsible public entity must 20 make before approving a comprehensive agreement; 21 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 22 providing an effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Present paragraphs (c) through (f) of subsection 27 (3) of section 255.065, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 28 paragraphs (e) through (h), respectively, new paragraphs (c) and 29 (d) are added to that subsection, and paragraph (b) and present 30 paragraph (d) of that subsection and paragraph (c) of subsection 31 (5) of that section are amended, to read: 32 255.065Public-private partnerships. 33 (3)PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES.A responsible public entity may 34 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 proposal 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 entity 50 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 days, after the initial date of 57 publication. If approved by a majority vote of the responsible 58 public entitys 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 responsible 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 publics 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 efficiencies 75 achieved by the proposal. 76 3.The qualifications and experience of the private entity 77 that submitted the proposal and such entitys ability to perform 78 the project. 79 4.The projects compatibility with regional infrastructure 80 plans. 81 5.Public comments submitted at the meeting. The 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 entitys findings based on each 94 considered factor. 95 (f)(d)Before approving a comprehensive agreement, the 96 responsible public entity must determine that the proposed 97 project: 98 1.Is in the publics best interest, if the proposal was 99 solicited. If the proposal was unsolicited, the responsible 100 public entity must determine that the proposed project has been 101 determined to be in the publics interest in accordance 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 conveyed 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 (c)After the public notification period has expired in the 126 case of an unsolicited proposal that is submitted and noticed 127 for public bidding, the responsible public entity shall rank the 128 proposals received in order of preference. In ranking the 129 proposals, the responsible public entity may consider factors 130 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 with 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 entity 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.