2022 Session
With the 2022 legislative session starting in January, the House and Senate will hold six weeks of pre-session committee meetings, according to a schedule released Wednesday. The first week of meetings will be held Sept. 20 to Sept. 24. It will be followed by the weeks of Oct. 11 to Oct. 15; Oct. 18 to Oct. 22; Nov. 1 to Nov. 5; Nov. 15 to Nov. 19; and Nov. 29 to Dec. 3. The legislative session will start Jan. 11.
FEDC Board of Directors Approves 2021 Legislative Priorities
In the summer of 2020, FEDC formed an Economic Recovery Task Force to evaluate the impact of losing the state-level tax refund program for competitive business recruitment and expansion projects called the Qualified Target Industry (QTI) Tax Refund program.
The task force submitted a series of recommendations to the Executive Office of the Governor, DEO, and Enterprise Florida in support of reinstating a modernized QTI program. This has become the cornerstone of the FEDC legislative priorities for 2021. Thank you to FEDC members who provided research, project data, and analysis.
FEDC Virtual Engagement: Putting Floridians Back to Work
FEDC Legislative Priorities
- Reinstate F.S. 288.106 Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund program, with the following modifications:
• Change average wage requirement to median wage to more accurately capture wages
paid to the majority of jobs created by the project or the average of the industry in that
county.
• Increase base QTI Amounts to $4,000 per new job created.
• Replace “Enterprise Zones” with “Opportunity Zones” to provide a $6,000 base award per job created for projects that locate in those areas.
• Simplify the Port Cargo/Airport Cargo Bonus. - Update F.S. 220.196 Research and Development Tax Credit to increase the cap from $9 million to $50 million with up to $10 million reserved for research companies who are restoring operations to Florida.
- FEDC supports maintaining and enhancing the CareerSource Florida Quick Response Training (QRT) grant program.
- In addition to these specific priorities, FEDC supports:
• Enterprise Florida, the state’s primary economic development organization, dedicated to Florida’s economic diversification and resiliency. This includes operational support and funding for business development, marketing the State of Florida as a business destination, and international trade activities.
• Programs through Space Florida, CareerSource Florida, Veterans Florida, Florida Rural EDA, Florida SBDC Network, The Corridor, GrowFL, FloridaMakes, and state academic institutions that connect existing and aspiring small businesses with the critical intelligence and talent they need to innovate, grow, and thrive.
• Establishing a Project Development Boot Camp to include EFI, DEO, and CareerSource Florida staff and FEDC Members.
FEDC Engages Florida Legislature
FEDC Legislative Economic Development Virtual Engagement: January 21, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM EST via GoToWebinar
Advocacy Toolkit
Please feel free to use these advocacy tools in your communications with the legislature...
WHAT WE DO
The Value of Economic Development
IEDC has produced the explainer video above and below on the value of economic development as expressed by members.
WHO WE ARE
Separately, here’s the link to the promotional material CALED created these explainer graphics around the value of economic development. It’s downloadable and free to use. Here is one example.
To save the images first click on one of the thumbnail images to open to its full size. Then right-click to save it to your computer.
FEDC Letter Series
The following letters are available for members to use to explain aspects of economic development with elected officials and their constituents.
• Legislative Communication Series – “International Trade”
• Legislative Communication Series – “Workforce Development”
• More coming soon.
What is a Workforce Development Board?
The National Association of Workforce Boards is committed to elevating public awareness of workforce development boards, and the key role WDBs play in communities throughout the country.
To better educate the public, elected officials, and key stakeholders about WDBs, NAWB has created an informational video “What is a Workforce Development Board?”.
You can access the video toolkit here.
