Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1628



By Senator Simon





3-01424-23 20231628__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to financial assistance for rural
3 areas of opportunity; amending s. 215.971, F.S.;
4 prohibiting certain agency agreements from requiring
5 the expenditure of funds before reimbursement;
6 authorizing agencies to undertake certain actions;
7 providing construction; providing an effective date.
8
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11 Section 1. Present subsections (2) and (3) of section
12 215.971, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (3)
13 and (4), respectively, and a new subsection (2) is added to that
14 section to read:
15 215.971 Agreements funded with federal or state
16 assistance.—
17 (2)(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, an
18 agency agreement that provides state or federal financial
19 assistance to a county or municipal entity within a rural area
20 of opportunity, as defined in s. 288.0656(2), may not require
21 the county or municipal entity to expend funds in order to be
22 reimbursed. For such counties or municipal entities, an agency
23 may advance funding based on an analysis of estimated costs, pay
24 service providers and vendors directly, or undertake other
25 options to meet the requirements of this section.
26 (b) This subsection may not be construed to alter or limit
27 any other provision of this section.
28 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.