The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Education Postsecondary
BILL: SB 1476
INTRODUCER: Senator Trumbull
SUBJECT: Trust Funds/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Renovation, Relocation, and
Construction Trust Fund/State University System
DATE: January 19, 2024
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Jahnke Bouck HE Pre-meeting
2. AED
3. AP
I. Summary:
SB 1476 creates the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences Renovation, Relocation, and
Construction Trust Fund (trust fund) within the State University System. The bill specifies the
trust fund serves as a depository for funds obtained from the sale, trade, exchange, or disposal of
state agricultural research and education properties leased to the University of Florida Board of
Trustees and used by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
The bill authorizes the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to conduct
such transactions and deposit the proceeds into the trust fund, and specifies that the funds are
designated for upgrades, renovation, repair of existing properties, and the relocation or
construction of new agricultural research and education facilities.
Additionally, the bill sets conditions for transactions, requiring fair market value, and includes a
termination date for the trust fund, subject to review before termination as outlined in
constitutional and statutory provisions.
This bill takes effect on July 1, 2024.
II. Present Situation:
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences
The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is a federal-
state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural
resources, and the life sciences. UF/IFAS fulfills the university’s land grant mission by working
to enhance and sustain the quality of human life through its research facilities, extension services
offered in every Florida county, and top-ranked education at the UF College of Agricultural and
REVISED: BILL: SB 1476 Page 2
Life Sciences.
1
In addition to extension offices in each of Florida’s 67 counties, the UF/IFAS has
12 research stations and five research and demonstration sites around the state that provide
testing, research, and development that fit the needs of agriculture in the area. Such sites were
built in rural areas but due to urban encroachment, their value has increased.
2
The total portfolio
of UF/IFAS facilities includes:
3
54,000+ acres;
1300+ buildings; and
4 million+ gross square feet of built space.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Relocation and Construction Trust Fund was
created in 1990 to allow the UF/IFAS to retain and reinvest funds from land sales back into the
UF/IFAS facilities portfolio.
4
The trust fund was reviewed and recommended to terminate in
2007.
5
One example of the allowances of IFAS Relocation and Construction Trust Fund occurred in
2003, where funds from the closing and sale of UF/IFAS centers and property in Sanford,
Leesburg, and Dover yielded enough funds to build the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and
Education Center in Balm located in Hillsborough County.
6
The majority of the UF/IFAS properties are owned by the state of Florida. Any surplus land sales
are managed through the Division of State Lands in the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection and ultimately the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. Funds
from these land sales are returned to the state of Florida under current statute and administrative
code.
7
Internal Improvement Trust Fund
The state received 500,000 acres of land for internal improvement purposes through an Act of
Congress passed on March 3, 1845. A portion of the granted land remains unsold. The funds
generated from the sale of the land, both from previous sales and future sales, are considered part
of this arrangement. Additionally, swampland or lands subject to overflow was granted to the
state by an Act of Congress approved on September 28, 1850. All these lands and the proceeds
from their sales were set apart and declared a separate fund known as the Internal Improvement
Trust Fund of the state.
8
1
University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, About UF/IFAS, https://ifas.ufl.edu/about-us/ (last visited
Jan. 18, 2024).
2
Email, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (Jan. 17, 2024), with attachment.
3
Id.
4
Chapter 90-148, Laws of Fla., authorized the Board of Regents, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, to sell, trade, or
exchange state agricultural research and education property, deposit the funds in the Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences Relocation and Construction Trust Fund, and apply the funds to the relocation and construction of new agricultural
research facilities.
5
Chapter 2007-18, Laws of Fla.
6
Email, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (Jan. 17, 2024), with attachment.
7
Id.
8
Section 253.01(1)(a), F.S. BILL: SB 1476 Page 3
All revenues accruing from sources designated by law for deposit in the Internal Improvement
Trust Fund must be used for the acquisition, management, administration, protection, and
conservation of state-owned lands.
9
Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund
The Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund is comprised of four
trustees: the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner
of Agriculture and their successors in office.
10
The BOT is vested and charged with the
acquisition, administration, management, control, supervision, conservation, protection, and
disposition of all lands owned by the state or any of its agencies, departments, boards, or
commissions, subject to certain exclusions specified in law.
11
The BOT is granted a
comprehensive set of rights and powers, including ownership rights, legal claims, remedies in
case of issues, the ability to take legal actions, and control over various matters that are relevant
to their responsibilities.
12
The BOT is not authorized to sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any lands the title to which is
vested in the BOT except by vote of at least three of the four trustees.
13
The BOT has additional
authority regarding easements for rights-of-way and submerged tidal lands.
14
The board can
delegate this authority to the Secretary of Environmental Protection.
15
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of State Lands is Florida’s lead
agency for environmental management and stewardship, serving as staff to the BOT of the
Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
16
Trust Funds
A trust fund may be created by law only by the Legislature and only if passed by a three-fifths
vote of the membership of each house in a separate bill for that purpose only. Except for trust
funds being re-created by the Legislature, each trust fund must be created by statutory language
that specifies at least the following:
17
The name of the trust fund.
The agency or branch of state government responsible for administering the trust fund.
The requirements or purposes that the trust fund is established to meet.
9
Section 253.01(2), F.S.
10
Section 253.02(1), F.S.
11
Section 253.03(1), F.S. Lands vested in the BOT of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund are: swamp and overflowed lands
held by the state; all lands owned by the state by right of its sovereignty; internal improvements lands proper; tidal lands;
lands covered by shallow waters of the ocean or gulf, or bays and lagoons, and all lands owned by the state covered in fresh
water; all parks, reservations, and lands set aside in the name of the state, excluding certain transportation facilities and
corridors; all lands which have accrued, or will accrue, to the state, with certain exceptions for transportation, spoil areas,
flood control district, water management district, or navigation district. Id.
12
Section 253.02(1), F.S.
13
Section 253.02(2)(a), F.S.
14
Section 253.02(2)-(4), F.S.
15
Section 253.02(2)(b) and (c), F.S.
16
Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of State Lands, https://floridadep.gov/lands (last visited Jan. 18,
2024).
17
Section 215.3207, F.S. BILL: SB 1476 Page 4
The sources of moneys to be credited to the trust fund or specific sources of receipts to be
deposited in the trust fund.
State trust funds are required to terminate, and are authorized to exist a maximum of four years
from the effective date of the act authorizing the initial creation of the trust fund. The legislature
may set a shorter time period for which any trust fund is authorized.
18
Before the regular session of the Legislature preceding the termination date of any trust fund, the
agency responsible for the administration of the trust fund and the Governor, for executive
branch trust funds, or the Chief Justice, for judicial branch trust funds, must review the purpose
and use of the trust fund. Based on this review, a recommendation must be provided to the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives regarding whether the
trust fund should be allowed to terminate or if it should be re-created. A recommendation to re-
create a trust fund may also include suggested modifications to the purpose, sources of receipts,
and allowable expenditures for the trust fund. Recommendations from agencies or the Chief
Justice must be made as part of the legislative budget request to the Legislature, and
recommendations from the Governor must be made part of the recommended budget presented
to the Legislature.
19
If the decision is made to terminate the trust fund and not immediately re-create it, all cash
balances and income of the trust fund are to be deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
The responsible agency or Chief Justice is required to promptly pay any outstanding debts of the
trust fund. The Chief Financial Officer must close out and remove the trust fund from various
state financial systems, adhering to generally accepted accounting practices related to
outstanding warrants, assets, and liabilities. No appropriation or budget amendment is authorized
to encumber funds from a trust fund after its termination date or if it is judicially determined to
be invalid.
20
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
The bill creates s. 1004.331, F.S., to establish the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences
Renovation, Relocation, and Construction Trust Fund (trust fund) within the State University
System. The trust fund is created to serve as a depository for funds derived from the sale, trade,
exchange, or disposal of state agricultural research and education real property and
improvements. The bill clarifies that these properties are leased to the University of Florida
Board of Trustees (UF BOT) by the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Internal Improvement Trust
Fund and are used by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
(UF/IFAS).
The bill acknowledges the authority of the BOT of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to
purchase, sell, and transfer state lands, to specify that the BOT of the Internal Improvement Trust
Fund, upon request from the UF BOT, may sell, trade, exchange, or otherwise dispose of state
agricultural research and education real property and improvements leased to the UF BOT and
used by the UF/IFAS.
18
FLA. CONST. art. III, s. 19(f).
19
Section 215.3206(1), F.S.
20
Section 215.3206(2), F.S. BILL: SB 1476 Page 5
The bill requires that, rather than deposited into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the BOT
of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund must deposit the proceeds from the sale or other
disposition of such lands into the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Renovation,
Relocation, and Construction Trust Fund, to be used:
By the UF BOT for upgrades, renovation, and repair of existing properties and the relocation
or construction of new agricultural research and education facilities.
Upon request of the UF BOT, by the BOT of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund for the
purchase of real property or property improvements for the relocation or construction of new
agricultural research and education facilities.
The bill requires any sale to be at fair market value, and any trade or exchange must be for
property with a fair market value equal to or greater than the property traded or exchanged.
Additionally, the bill establishes a termination date for the Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences Renovation, Relocation, and Construction Trust Fund on July 1, 2028, unless
terminated sooner. The bill requires a review of the fund before its scheduled termination as
provided in law.
This bill takes effect July 1, 2024.
IV. Constitutional Issues:
A. Municipality/County Mandates Restrictions:
None.
B. Public Records/Open Meetings Issues:
None.
C. Trust Funds Restrictions:
Article III, s. 19(f)(1) of the Florida Constitution specifies that a trust fund may be
created or re-created only by a three-fifths vote of the membership of each house of the
Legislature in a separate bill for that purpose only.
Article III, s. 19(f)(2) of the Florida Constitution specifies that state trust funds must
terminate not more than four years after the effective date of the act authorizing the initial
creation of the trust fund. By law the Legislature may set a shorter time period for which
any trust fund is authorized.
D. State Tax or Fee Increases:
None.
E. Other Constitutional Issues:
None. BILL: SB 1476 Page 6
V. Fiscal Impact Statement:
A. Tax/Fee Issues:
None.
B. Private Sector Impact:
None.
C. Government Sector Impact:
The Internal Improvement Trust Fund may experience an indeterminate negative fiscal
impact associated with revenues for transactions specified in the bill redirected to the
Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences Renovation, Relocation, and Construction
Trust Fund created in the bill.
VI. Technical Deficiencies:
None.
VII. Related Issues:
None.
VIII. Statutes Affected:
This bill creates section 1004.331 of the Florida Statutes.
IX. Additional Information:
A. Committee Substitute – Statement of Changes:
(Summarizing differences between the Committee Substitute and the prior version of the bill.)
None.
B. Amendments:
None.
This Senate Bill Analysis does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill’s introducer or the Florida Senate.