Facts About the INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE

[INSERT YOUR LOGO HERE]

01/05/2018
Facts about the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE]
Background and Talking Points re: House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 1714

Facts about the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE]

What is the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE]?
The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE](EDC) is a 501 c 6 private organization. It is not a government agency.
What is the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] purpose?
The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] purpose is to help attract, retain, and expand jobs and capital investment in [INSERT SERVICE TERRITORY HERE], and market the community’s business assets nationally and globally. The services it provides include marketing, research, domestic and international business development and project management.
How is the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] funded?
Two-thirds of its funding comes from private investment sources, and the remaining third from fee-for-service public sector contracts. [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] has a higher percentage of private funding sources than most other economic development organizations in the state of Florida.
Does the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] award any public sector funds to clients?
The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] does not award any incentives or control the dissemination of public funds or grants for economic development, workforce, or other programs.
What is the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] relationship to local and statewide government?
The City of ______and ______County contract with the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] to provide them with a range of marketing, business development, research, and other services. These fee-for-service contracts are reviewed and renewed on a bi-annual basis.
We believe in accountability. The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] is audited annually and submits detailed financial and other reports quarterly to the City and County.
The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] is not a contractor of the State of Florida.

###

Background on House Bill 3 (HB3):
HB3, sponsored by Representative Mike Grant, District 75, Charlotte County, and companion bill SB 1714, sponsored by Senator Keith Perry, parts of Alachua, Putnam and Marion counties, would impose many new and burdensome regulations on local economic development and tourism organizations, including

Having each officer or board member file an annual disclosure describing his/her interests, including the interests of parents or subsidiaries, in benefiting from the expenditure of economic development agency funds. The disclosure must be placed on the EDC’s web site.
Videotaping board meetings for public viewing.
Disallowing the use of economic development agency funds for food, beverages, entertainment or gifts.
Publishing any proposed contracts between economic development agencies and the county of $250,000 or more on the county’s web site at least 14 days before the contract would be executed. Requires majority vote of governing body of county to proceed.
Submitting all contracts between economic development agencies and vendors with a total contract value of $5,000 or more to the governing board of the county for approval.

If passed, HB3 would make it as difficult, time-consuming, and expensive as possible for the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] and other Florida economic development organizations to do their jobs and compete with cities and regions in other states.

Talking Points:

HB3 imposes onerous requirements on private sector leaders who are using private funds to invest in the growth and prosperity of their local community. It actively discourages the business community’s participation in economic development activities.
HB3 would require economic development organization (EDO) board members to file annual financial and other disclosures and publish these on the web site of the EDO on which they serve. This requirement places an unnecessary burden on those who would serve on the [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] board and deter participation from the business community in economic development for our region.
Usurps the ‘home rule’ rights of local municipalities and counties to determine how to pursue business investment, job creation, and market their own communities.
The Florida Constitutiondelegated home rule authority to state municipalities and counties in 1968, giving them governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions, and exercise any power for municipal purposes that they saw fit.*
Severely erodes Florida’s competitiveness for jobs and capital investment, providing advantages to chief competitors such as Texas and Georgia.
HB3’s requirement that all board meetings be videotaped and posted on web sites for public consumption means that important discussions regarding strategy and project activity will be readily available for competing states to view and use to their advantage.
HB3’s requirements for the reporting of expenses and approval of vendor contracts are redundant.
The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] provides the City of ______and ______County with detailed financial reportseach quarter and independent audit results each year.
The [INSERT YOUR ORG NAME HERE] is a vendor to the City of ______and ______County.
HB3 would hold it to an unfair and burdensome standard of accountability that is not being imposed on other vendors to Florida municipalities and counties.

* Article VIII, section 2(b) of the Florida Constitution gives municipalities “home rule.” “Home rule” is the ability of a municipality to act without legislative authorization. Prior to the adoption of section 2(b), municipalities had only those powers granted by the Legislature. The law was that if a reasonable doubt existed as to a particular power, that doubt was resolved against the city. The present provision in Article VIII, section 2(b) states the following: Municipalities shall have governmental, corporate, and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for municipal purposes except as otherwise provided by law. The Florida Legislature enacted Section 166.021 of the Florida Statutes to implement this constitutional language.

###

3551 Blairstone Road850-212-1056

Suite

Tallahassee, FL 32301