HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 1463 Department of Economic Opportunity
SPONSOR(S): Commerce Committee; Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee; LaMarca
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 1948
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Tourism, Infrastructure & Energy Subcommittee 18 Y, 0 N, As CS Willson Keating
2) Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations 14 Y, 0 N Hicks Davis
Subcommittee
3) Commerce Committee 19 Y, 0 N, As CS Willson Hamon
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) is tasked with assisting the Governor in working with the
Legislature, state agencies, business leaders, and economic development professionals to formulate and
implement coherent and consistent policies and strategies designed to promote economic opportunities for all
Floridians. DEO must also ensure that the state's goals and policies relating to economic development,
workforce development, community planning and development, and affordable housing are fully integrated with
appropriate implementation strategies. Currently, the DEO agency head is referred to as the “Executive
Director.”
The bill provides that the DEO agency head will be known as “Secretary” instead of “Executive Director” and
adds the Secretary to the Board of Directors for Enterprise Florida and CareerSource Florida, respectively.
Additionally, the bill establishes an Office of Economic Accountability and Transparency within DEO.
The bill provides flexibility to DEO relating to the administration of the federally funded Florida Small Cities
Community Development Block Grant Program and provides for expedited permitting for certain homeowners
affected by natural disasters.
The bill makes several changes relating to Florida’s reemployment assistance program in order to modernize,
increase efficiency and effectiveness, and provide for additional accountability.
The bill does not appear to impact state revenues, and any actions to modernize the reemployment assistance
system during the 2021-22 fiscal year are included in the House proposed General Appropriations Act for FY
2021-2022.
The bill takes effect upon becoming law.
This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Florida’s economic development system is multi-faceted and includes public agencies, non-profit
corporations, and private entities at the state, regional, and local level. The Legislature created some of
these organizations, while others are units of local government or privately formed associations or
alliances. Many of the organizations have similar missions (e.g., encouraging economic development
and enhancing the state’s business climate) and serve the same constituencies (e.g., in- and out-of-
state businesses and the state’s economic and workforce development communities). The most
prominent of these organizations are Enterprise Florida, Inc. and the Department of Economic
Opportunity.1
Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO)
Current Situation
The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) is tasked with assisting the Governor in working with
the Legislature, state agencies, business leaders, and economic development professionals to
formulate and implement coherent and consistent policies and strategies designed to promote
economic opportunities for all Floridians.2 DEO must also ensure that the state's goals and policies
relating to economic development, workforce development, community planning and development, and
affordable housing are fully integrated with appropriate implementation strategies.3
To achieve these goals, the Legislature established five divisions within DEO:
Strategic Business Development
Community Development
Workforce Services
Finance and Administration
Division of Information Technology4
These divisions help fulfill DEO’s statutorily mandated responsibilities, which include to:
Facilitate the direct involvement of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor in economic
development and workforce development projects designed to create, expand, and retain
businesses in this state, to recruit business from around the world, and to facilitate other job-
creating efforts.
Recruit new businesses to this state and promote the expansion of existing businesses by
expediting permitting and location decisions, worker placement and training, and incentive
awards.
Promote viable, sustainable communities by providing technical assistance and guidance on
growth and development issues, grants, and other assistance to local communities.
Ensure that the state’s goals and policies relating to economic development, workforce
development, community planning and development, and affordable housing are fully integrated
with appropriate implementation strategies.
Manage the activities of public-private partnerships and state agencies in order to avoid
duplication and promote coordinated and consistent implementation of programs in areas
including, but not limited to, tourism; international trade and investment; business recruitment,
creation, retention, and expansion; minority and small business development; rural community
development; and the development and promotion of professional and amateur sporting events.
1 OPPAGA, Report No. 16-09, Agency Review-Enterprise Florida, Inc., and Department of Economic Opportunity, at 6. (Dec. 2016)
2 S. 20.60(4), F.S.
3 OPPAGA, Program Summary: Department of Economic Opportunity,
https://oppaga.fl.gov/ProgramSummary/ProgramDetail?programNumber=6101 (last visited Mar. 11, 2021).
4 S. 20.60(3), F.S.
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Coordinate with state agencies on the processing of state development approvals or permits to
minimize the duplication of information provided by the applicant and the time before approval
or disapproval.5
Current law refers to the head of DEO as the “executive director.”6 However, Florida law generally
provides that the term “secretary” means “an individual who is appointed by the Governor to head a
department and who is not otherwise named in the State Constitution” whereas “executive director”
means the chief administrative employee or officer of a department headed by a board or by the
Governor and the Cabinet.7
Currently, DEO does not have an office or program expressly dedicated to overseeing transparency
and accountability for the agency.
Effect of the Bill
The bill renames the DEO agency head as the “Secretary” from the “Executive Director,” establishes
the Office of the Secretary, and allows for the appointment of deputy assistant secretaries. The bill also
amends cross references to reflect the change in title concerning the agency head of DEO.
The bill establishes the Office of Economic Accountability and Transparency within DEO, which must:
Oversee critical objectives and ensure key objectives are clearly communicated to the public.
Organize resources, expertise, data, and research to focus on and solve the complex economic
challenges facing the state.
Provide leadership for priority issues that require integration of policy, managements, and
critical objectives from multiple programs and organizations internal and external to DEO.
Promote and facilitate key initiatives to address priority economic issues and explore data and
identify opportunities for innovative approaches to address such economic issues.
Promote strategic planning.
Community Development Block Grants
Current Situation
Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program
In 1981, Congress amended the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to give each
state the opportunity to administer Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for non-
entitlement areas. Non-entitlement8 areas include local governments which do not receive CDBG
funds directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the
entitlement program (Entitlement Cities and Urban Counties). The purpose of the Act is to assist
local governments in carrying out effective community development and project planning/design
activities to reverse community decline.9
HUD distributes funds to each state through a statutory formula based on population, poverty,
incidence of overcrowded housing, and age of housing. Neither HUD nor states distribute funds
5 S. 20.60(4), F.S.
6 S. 20.60(2), F.S.
7 S. 20.03, F.S.
8 Funding for the Florida Small Cities CDBG Program is competitive and there are no “targeted” areas. The HUD identifies communities
as non-entitlement local governments. Communities that do not have an open Commercial Revitalization, Neighborhood Revitalization,
or Housing Rehabilitation subgrant are eligible to apply for CDBG funding in one of those categories. For a list of the Florida
communities that were eligible to receive CDBG funding during the FFY 2019 funding cycle, see DEO, Small Cities Community
Development Block Grant FFY 2019 Eligible Communities, https://floridajobs.org/docs/default-source/2015-community-
development/community-revitalization/cdbg/applicants/ffy2019smallcitieseligiblecommunities.pdf?sfvrsn=11a948b0_2 (last visited Mar.
11, 2021).
9 Id.
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directly to citizens or private organizations. State governments, in turn, distribute the funds to local
governments.10
DEO manages four CDBG Programs:
Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program
CDBG – Coronavirus Relief Funding (CDBG-CV)
Office of Disaster Recovery
Neighborhood Stabilization Program
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program is a federal program that provides funding
for housing and community development activities. The program consists of two components:
Entitlement Program - funds are provided directly to urban communities, and
State Program - funds are allocated to the states for distribution to eligible non-entitlement
communities
DEO administers the State Program in Florida through the Small Cities CDBG Program, which is a
competitive grant program that awards funds to units of local government in small urban and rural
areas. Florida receives between 18 and 26 million dollars annually from HUD to award subgrants to
eligible units of local government. The program provides an opportunity for communities to obtain funds
for projects that they cannot otherwise afford. CDBG funds can also provide administrative support for
local governments that may not have the staffing resources necessary to administer their projects.
Chapter 290, F.S., provides that the intent of the Florida Small Cities CDBG Program Act (Act) is to
provide the necessary means to develop, preserve, redevelop, and revitalize Florida communities
exhibiting signs of decline or distress by enabling local governments to undertake necessary
community development programs. Mirroring the federal law, the overall objective of the program is
to create viable communities by eliminating slum and blight, fortifying communities in urgent need,
providing adequate housing and suitable living environments, and expanding economic
opportunities, principally for persons of low or moderate income.11
An eligible local government may apply up to three times in any one annual funding cycle for an
economic development grant, but may not receive more than one such grant per annual funding cycle.
Current law further specifies that a local government may have more than one open economic
development grant.12
The following units of local government are eligible to apply for Small Cities CDBG funds:
Cities with fewer than 50,000 residents that have not accepted special entitlement status
and have not opted to join an entitlement program.
Counties with fewer than 200,000 residents.
Cities with more than 50,000 residents that have opted out of the urban entitlement
program.
The program focuses on the following four funding categories:
Commercial Revitalization
Economic Development
Housing Rehabilitation
Neighborhood Revitalization
10 Id.
11 S. 290.0411, F.S. See 42 U.S.C.§ 5302(a)(20). “Persons of low or moderate income” means any person who meets the definition
established by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD defines “persons of low income” as families and
individuals whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median income of a service area, as determined by HUD. “Persons of
moderate income” are defined as families and individuals whose incomes exceed 50 percent, but do not exceed 80 percent of the
median income of a service area, as determined by HUD.
12 S. 290.046(2), F.S.
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To be eligible for funding, an activity must meet at least one of the following objectives:
Benefit to Low-and Moderate-Income Persons - At least 51 percent of the beneficiaries must
be low- and moderate-income persons (total household income is at or below 80 percent of
the area's median income).
Elimination of Slum and Blight - Eliminate conditions of slum or blight as defined by state
law and identified by the unit of local government on a spot or area basis.
Address an Urgent Need - The activity must alleviate a condition that poses a serious and
immediate threat to those living in the area. The condition must have occurred within 18
months of application. The unit of local government must demonstrate that it is unable to
finance the activity on its own and that other funding is not available.
Examples of CDBG-funded projects include:
Water and sewer improvements
Rehabilitation of substandard housing
Street and sidewalk improvements
Economic development activities that create jobs for low-and moderate-income people
Downtown revitalization, including facade improvements, streetscaping, and underground
utilities
Park facilities and community centers
Drainage & stormwater improvements
Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery
The Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR) is a federally
funded program administered by HUD. CDBG-DR programs are long-term recovery programs that work
to provide safe, sanitary, and decent homes for Florida citizens recovering from the devastating
impacts of hurricanes and other natural disasters. The CDBG-DR program repairs or replaces the
residential housing of low- and moderate-income individuals and most vulnerable citizens who have
been unable to recover from a disaster after exhaustion of all other forms of assistance.
The Office of Long-Term Resiliency within DEO conducts single-family residential housing repair and
replacement for Florida residents whose homes still have unrepaired damage from Hurricanes
Hermine, Matthew, Irma, and Michael. These projects must comply with the Florida Building Code by
applying for and receiving Florida building permits from the applicable local building code enforcement
jurisdictions. Applications for and issuance of permitting for these projects is currently given the same
priority as any other residential permit application.
Effect of the Bill
Relating to the Florida Small Cities CDBG Program, the bill:
Amends definitions to align with applicable federal law.
Removes the requirement that applicants may only participate in one program category.
Changes the percentage of funds that can be set aside for an emergency or natural disaster
that has been declared by an executive order, from 5 percent to 15 percent.
Allows funds set aside for an emergency or natural disaster to be used for unfunded
applications for any funding cycle and not just the most recent funding cycle.
Removes provisions which limit the number of grant applications a local government may
submit during each grant cycle.
Removes the requirement that unused economic development grant funds be awarded