March 25, 2022
Public Policy Update
With the 2022 legislative session now behind us, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is waiting for bills to be sent from the legislature for his signature. Once legislation is presented to the governor, he has 15 days from the date of presentation to sign, veto, or allow the legislation to become law without his signature.
To date, the governor has signed 18 bills into law, with the latest happening today. Most of the recent bills he has signed have been focused on education policy, such as HB 1467 which deals with curriculum transparency, SB 1048 which has to do with student assessments and SB 1054 which involves student financial literacy.
The legislature has not sent their approved budget to the governor yet, but when they do, he has line item veto power over the record $112.1 billion dollar spending plan. It's important to note this process takes time as the governor’s policy team evaluates each piece of legislation and plans bill signings that accommodate his busy schedule.
Rental and Utility Assistance Delivered to Floridians
From March 10th through March 17th, OUR Florida says it approved 4,219 applications and obligated more the $22 million in relief to families behind on rent and utility payments. Since the program's inception, OUR Florida says it has obligated to pay out more than $1.09 billion to more than 201,000 households across Florida. The program received an additional $740.4 million in February, part of the federal Emergency Rental Assistance funded by the U.S. Treasury.
OUR Florida provides renters who qualify with relief on unpaid rent and utility bills, and supports landlords and utilities with relief on lost revenue to support their continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more on this news, refer to this Florida Realtors news story.
New Florida Jobs Numbers
Governor DeSantis announced today that Florida business continue to have robust employment opportunities, a benefit of a competitive and energized workforce where employers have added jobs for 22 consecutive months.
There were 8,132,300 (+52,000 in February) private sector jobs statewide in February 2022, an increase of 525,200, or 6.9%, over the year. Florida’s over-the-year private sector job growth rate has exceeded the nation’s for 11 consecutive months since April 2021. Florida’s February economic data also shows a declining unemployment rate, down .2% over the month to 3.3%, which remains below the national average of 3.8%.
Florida’s unemployment rate has remained below the national rate for 15 consecutive months. The February 2022 labor force grew 3.2% over the year, outpacing the national over-the-year labor force growth rate of 2.3%. Florida’s labor force has reached 10,471,000, increasing by 324,000, or 3.2% over the year.
Teacher Pay Increases
Citing the difficult time teachers are having purchasing a home, paying student loans, and providing for their families, Governor DeSantis announced on Monday that he will be supporting the $800 million included in the 2022-23 state budget to raise minimum teacher pay and increase veteran teacher salaries in Florida.
The $800 million is a $250 million increase over last year’s funding and brings Florida’s investments in teacher pay to greater than $2 billion since the 2020 legislative session. In 2020, the average starting salary for teachers in Florida was $40,000 (26th in the nation), with the allocation in this year’s budget, Florida will now be at least $47,000 (9th in the nation).
USDA Approves Florida Disaster Declaration
Governor DeSantis and the Florida Division of Emergency Management announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved disaster designations for 17 counties and 10 contiguous counties impacted by the freezing temperatures that occurred from January 23rd through January 31st.
A USDA disaster declaration makes farm operators in these counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency, including emergency loans. Farmers in eligible counties have 8 months from the date of a USDA disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.
The 17 primary counties eligible for USDA assistance are Broward, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, St. Lucie and Sarasota counties. The 10 contiguous counties eligible for USDA assistance are Brevard, Charlotte, Lake, Lee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas and Sumter. Programs available under this declaration include the Noninsured Corp Disaster Assistance Program, the Tree Assistance Program, Emergency Farm Loans and the Livestock Indemnity Program.
https://www.floridarealtors.org/