HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 1279 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
SPONSOR(S): Infrastructure Strategies Committee, Agriculture, Conservation & Resiliency Subcommittee,
Alvarez and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 1164
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Agriculture, Conservation & Resiliency 17 Y, 0 N, As CS Mamontoff Moore
Subcommittee
2) Infrastructure Strategies Committee 18 Y, 0 N, As CS Mamontoff Harrington
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) supports and promotes Florida agriculture,
protects the environment, safeguards consumers, and ensures the safety and wholesomeness of foods. The
bill contains various provisions related to DACS’s programs and Florida’s agricultural industry. Specifically, the
bill:
Creates the Florida Farm Tax Exempt Agricultural Materials (TEAM) Card;
Requires state agencies, universities, state colleges, and their contracted food service providers to give
preference to Florida grown and produced food;
Specifies that DACS is the lead agency for regulating and encouraging the development of aquaculture
in the state;
Authorizes DACS to use drones to manage and eradicate plant or animal diseases;
Repeals outdated and unnecessary boards and councils;
Revises and repeals various definitions related to food safety, milk regulations, and fertilizer;
Authorizes DACS to adopt and implement an exemption, waiver, and variance process for school
nutrition program sponsors;
Requires each person who is licensed or permitted by DACS to provide an email address of record;
Requires DACS to submit a purchase agreement for a conservation easement acquisition to the Board
of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund if the purchase price exceeds $5 million;
Increases the estimated value threshold that requires two appraisals to be conducted for a conservation
easement acquisition from $1 million to $5 million; and
Revises various other provisions to modernize DACS practices and streamline regulations.
The bill may have an indeterminate negative fiscal impact on the state that can be absorbed within existing
resources.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
STORAGE NAME: h1279c.ISC
DATE: 4/20/2023
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) supports and promotes Florida
agriculture, protects the environment, safeguards consumers, and ensures the safety and
wholesomeness of foods. Among other programs and activities, DACS:
Protects Florida’s livestock, honey bees, and crop plants from pests and diseases;
Manages over a million acres of state forest land for multiple uses, including timber, wildlife
habitat, and recreation;
Acts as the state’s clearing house for consumer concerns; and
Tests for toxins, allergens, chemical contaminants, pesticide residues, food additives, and
fraudulent formulations in food samples.1
DACS’s Agricultural Economic Development Program works to strengthen Florida’s agriculture to meet
the needs of the state’s growing population through six divisions: Animal Industry; Aquaculture; Food,
Nutrition, and Wellness; Fruit and Vegetables; Marketing and Development; and Plant Industry. 2
The bill contains various provisions related to DACS’s programs and Florida’s agricultural industry.
Florida Farm Tax Exemptions
Background
Florida Sales and Use Tax
Florida’s state sales and use tax is a six percent levy on retail sales of most tangible property,
admissions, transient lodgings, and motor vehicles. 3 Sales tax is added to the price of taxable goods or
services and the tax is collected from the purchaser at the time of the sale. In addition to the six percent
state sales tax, Florida law authorizes counties to levy a discretionary sales surtax. 4 The Department of
Revenue (DOR) is the state agency that administers the state’s taxes and fees, including the sales and
use tax.5
Chapter 212, F.S., contains statutory provisions that authorize the levy and collection of Florida’s sales
and use tax as well as the exemptions and credits applicable to certain items or uses under specified
circumstances.
Florida Farm Tax Exemptions
Florida farmers and ranchers that are engaged in bona fide agricultural production 6 are exempt from
paying sales and use tax on certain items. When purchasing such items, an eligible farmer must furnish
to the seller a signed exemption certificate stating that the item(s) are for a designated use in
1 Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability Government Program Summaries (GPS), Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services, https://oppaga.fl.gov/ProgramS ummary/ProgramDetail?programNumber=4122 (last
visited March 12, 2023).
2 Id.
3 Chapter 212, F.S.
4 Sections 212.054 and 212.044, F.S.
5 Florida Department of Revenue, General Tax Administration Program,
https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/Pages/gta_about_us.aspx (last visited March 8, 2023).
6 “Agriculture production” means the production of plants and animals useful to humans, including the preparation,
planting, cultivating, or harvesting of these products or any other practices necessary to accomplish production through
the harvest phase, including the storage of raw products on a farm. The term includes aquaculture, horticulture,
floriculture, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bees, and any and all forms of farm products and farm production. Section
212.02(32),F.S.
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DATE: 4/20/2023
agricultural production.7 There are currently 25 different agricultural sales tax exemptions, and a
separate certificate is required for each one.8
Each sales tax exemption certificate expires five years after the date of issuance. In reviewing each
sales tax exemption certificate renewal, DOR must ensure that the institution, organization, or individual
possessing the certificate is actively engaged in an exempt endeavor. 9 Each institution, organization, or
individual that possesses a sales tax exemption certificate is required to cooperate fully with DOR
during its review of the certificate(s). DOR will revoke the certificate of any entity that fails to respond to
either of two written requests for information regarding their taxable status. If DOR determines that an
entity no longer qualifies for an exemption, then the tax exemption certificate of that entity will be
revoked.
Current agricultural sales tax exemptions are:10
Animal health and aquaculture health products;
Aquaculture feed;
Dyed diesel fuel used for aquaculture;
Additional aquaculture exemptions for fuel;
Electricity used for agricultural packing and other purposes;
Electricity used for agricultural production or processing;
Fencing and trailers used in agricultural production;
Fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, pesticides, and weed killers used for crops, groves, home
vegetable gardens, and commercial nurseries;
Frost protection materials;
Fuel used for agricultural purposes;
Generators used exclusively on a poultry farm;
Insecticides and fungicides, including disinfectants, used in dairy barns or on poultry farms;
Items used by a farmer to contain, produce, or process an agricultural commodity;
Liquified petroleum gas or other fuel used to heat a structure in which started pullets or broilers
are raised;
Liquified petroleum gas, diesel, or kerosene used to transport bees by water and in the
operation of equipment used in the apiary of a beekeeper;
Liquified petroleum gas, diesel, or kerosene used for agricultural purposes in any tractor,
vehicle, or other farm equipment used exclusively on a farm for farming purposes;
Nets and repair parts used for nets purchased by commercial fisheries nursery stock, seedlings,
cuttings, or other propagative material for growing stock;
Power farm equipment expansion – accessory parts, accessories, repairs and equipment used
through the storage phase of production;
Portable containers or moveable receptacles used for harvesting or processing farm products;
Postharvest machinery or equipment;
Power farm equipment;
Power farm equipment or irrigation equipment used exclusively in the agricultural production of
crops or products;
Power farm equipment or irrigation equipment used exclusively in fire prevention and
suppression work for crops and products;
Seedlings, cuttings, and plants used to produce food for human consumption; and
Stakes used to support plants.
7 Florida Department of Revenue, Tax Information Publication, available at
https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/tips/Documents/ TIP _22A 01 -15. pdf.
8 See s. 212.08, F.S.
9 Section 212.084(1)(a), F.S.
10 Section 212.08, F.S.
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DATE: 4/20/2023
Effect of the Bill
The bill creates the Florida Farm Tax Exempt Agricultural Materials (TEAM) card. A farmer whose
property is classified as agricultural11 or who has implemented agricultural best management
practices 12 adopted by DACS may apply to DOR for a TEAM card to claim the applicable sales tax
exemptions. The farmer may then present the TEAM card to a seller in lieu of the required certificate or
affidavit.
For items purchased as tax exempt, proof of acceptance of the TEAM card relieves the selling dealer of
the responsibility of collecting the sales tax of the purchased items. DOR must look solely to the
purchaser for recovery of the tax if it is determined that the purchaser was not entitled to the claimed
exemption.
The bill specifies that the TEAM card is subject to the same DOR review and revocation processes
currently applicable to agricultural sales tax exemptions. Each TEAM card is valid for five consecutive
years, at which time the review and reissuance procedures apply.
The bill directs DOR to adopt rules necessary to administer the TEAM card and authorizes DACS to
take all actions necessary for the administration, issuance, and distribution of the TEAM cards to
farmers registered with DOR. The bill requires DOR to accept TEAM card applications beginning
January 1, 2024.
The bill authorizes DOR to adopt emergency rules for the purpose of implementing the TEAM card and
specifies that the emergency rules will be effective for six months after adoption and may be renewed
during the pendency of procedures to adopt permanent rules.
The bill also authorizes DOR to share information with DACS for official purposes related to
administering or issuing the TEAM card.
Florida Commodity Preference
Background
The Department of Management Services (DMS) is the business arm of Florida government. DMS’s
primary mission is to support sister agencies and current and former state employees with workforce
and business-related functions.13 DMS is divided into two major services areas: Business Operations
and Workforce Operations. The business operations area includes the Division of State Purchasing,
which develops and oversees the procedures under which agencies purchase commodities and
services.14
Under current law, commodities manufactured, grown, or produced within the state must be given
preference whenever there are two or more sealed competitive bids that are otherwise equal with
respect to price, quality, and service. A commodity includes any of the various supplies, materials,
goods, merchandise, food, equipment, information technology, and other personal property purchased,
leased, or otherwise contracted for by the state and its agencies. 15
Effect of the Bill
By 2025, or upon expiration of any existing food service contract, whichever is earlier, the bill requires
all food commodities purchased by an agency, a state university, a Florida College System institution,
11 “Agricultural” is a classification of land that is used primarily for bona fide agricultural production purposes; “bona fide
agricultural purposes” means good faith commercial agricultural use of the land. Section 193.461(3)(b).
12 Section 403.067(7)(c)2., F.S.
13 Department of Management Services (DMS), About Us, https://www.dms.myflorida.com/about_us (last visited March 8,
2023).
14 Id.
15 “Commodity” also includes interest on deferred-payment commodity contracts approved pursuant to s. 287.063, F.S.,
entered into by an agency for the purchase of other commodities. However, commodities purchased for resale are
excluded from this definition. Printing of publications must be considered a commodity if procured pursuant to s. 283.33,
F.S., whether purchased for resale or not. Section 287.012(5), F.S.
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or any contracted food service provider to be grown or produced in Florida when available, practical,
and feasible.
The bill directs state agencies, state universities, Florida College System institutions, and contracted
food service providers to give preference to food commodities grown or produced in Florida when
purchasing food commodities of any class, variety, or use in their natural state or as processed by a
farm operation or processor, including farm products.16
The bill allows a competitive solicitation for the purchase of food commodities to give preference to a
responsive and responsible vendor who agrees to fulfill the contract through the use of food
commodities grown or produced in Florida. These vendors may be given preference over other
vendors, provided that such preference does not exceed 10 percent of the total score allocated to price
or does not result in a price increase greater than 10 percent.
The bill directs DMS to prepare and submit a biennial report to the Governor, the Cabinet, the President
of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives which describes the amount of food
commodities grown or produced in the state which were purchased according to the above
requirements. The bill requires DMS to adopt by rule a form to be submitted by each state agency,
state university, and Florida College System institution, or contracted food service provider thereof
which purchases food commodities. Such state entities must submit the form biennially to DMS. The
report must contain, at a minimum:
The total expenditures on, and the quantity purchased of, food commodities by each agency,
state university, and Florida College System institution;
The total expenditures on, and the quantity purchased of, food commodities grown or produced
in Florida by each agency, state university, and Florida College System institution;
The total expenditures of each agency, state university, or Florida College System institution on
food commodities grown or produced outside of Florida; and
A statement and assessment of the good faith efforts of, and any failures by, each state
agency, state university, or Florida College System institution, or any contracted food service
provider, to comply with these requirements.
DACS Boards and Councils
Background
There are various boards and councils created within DACS to assist the agency in carrying out its
various duties.
The Dairy Technical Council17 is composed of seven members, including two state citizens associated
with the University of Florida, an employee of the Department of Health, two dairy farmers, and two
distributors of milk. The council has not met since 2016.
The State Agricultural Advisory Council18 is composed of 33 members, appointed by the Commissioner
of Agriculture (Commissioner), that represent 32 agricultural or trade interests. This council has not met
in the last two administrations.
The Florida Young Farmer and Rancher Advisory Council19 is composed of 12 members appointed by
the Commissioner. The council may annually submit to the Commissioner findings and
recommendations for mitigating challenges facing aspiring farmers and ranchers in the early stages of
their careers. This council has not met since its establishment in 2018.
16 “Farm products” means any plant or animal or insect useful to humans and includes, but is not limited to, any product
derived therefrom. Section 823.14(3)(e). “Plants or plant products” means trees, shrubs, vines, forage and cereal plants,
and all other plants and plant parts, including cuttings, grafts, scions, buds, fruits, vegetables, roots, bulbs, seeds, wood,
l