Brief Legislative Update

Dear Members,

Just a brief update today.

With only one week left in the 2016 Legislative Session, budget negotiations and floor debates result in very long days in Tallahassee. The budget conference process began last Friday evening, and continued through the weekend. Lawmakers are spending the bulk of their time on the floor of their respective chambers debating bills ranging from education policy to public private partnerships to health insurance.

We kept pushing hard to get changes in the estoppel certificate process. Rep. Kathleen Passidomo filed amendments to a bill in hopes of securing statutory language requiring "pay at closing" for estoppel certificates. These amendments, which were connected to other amendments, were withdrawn due to the underlying amendment being withdrawn. Unfortunately, the full House was unable to vote on these provisions to do procedural hurdles; however, the debate continues and many legislators stood in support of Rep. Passidomo's efforts. Our efforts to bring reform to the estoppel certificate process were not successful but we are already strategizing for next year.

Behind the scenes, Governor Scott and his staff continue to push for economic development incentive dollars that may be used to attract new business to Florida and to compete with other states for jobs. The current versions of the legislature's budget do not presently fund this initiative, but negotiations continue. Despite the hectic pace of bills and budgeting, you can expect an on-time conclusion of the session on Friday, March 11, 2016.

Best Regards,

Melissa Jay Murphy
Senior Vice President and
General Counsel