Florida Banking November 2022

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE 2023 SESSION

BY ANTHONY DIMARCO, FBA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

O nce again, Florida will change its Speaker of the House and Senate President after the November election. With the changes in House and Senate leadership come changes in priorities. What was once a priority of the House or Senate may not be the priority of the incoming leadership. Naturally, their priorities must be balanced between the two chambers and with the Governor’s legislative priorities. If the election results are as expected, Governor Ron DeSantis will return as Governor. Also, the new Speaker of the House will be Rep. Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) and the new Senate President will be Sen. Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples). It would be presumptive to set forth their priorities for the 2023 Session, plus whatever results from Hurricane Ian’s destruction; however, rest assured that the FBA will be there to represent our industry. We have also heard rumors about the leadership team in each chamber as well. We will not have complete knowledge of who will make up Speaker Renner’s and President Passidomo’s leadership teams until the formal announcements are made. Unlike social media, we will not speculate on this piece. Moreover, we will not know the committee or subcommittee chairmen or members of each until after the November election. The credit unions will once again file their bill to take public deposits. This is the only bill they really care about, and all of their resources are for this issue. How unfair would it be for these tax-exempt “banks” to compete against you more than they already do? Please get ready to answer our Calls to Action on this. Unfortunately, we think this issue will get more traction than normal in the 2023 Session. We also expect legislation dealing with property Some issues that we expect to be heard in the 2023 Session

insurance. There was unfinished business from the 2021 and 2022 Sessions in the insurance arena. We expect a major component of any insurance legislation to address tort reform and roof coverage. Add on any issues that became apparent from Hurricane Ian to the bill. The Governor and Legislature will have to address the increases in property insurance, the lack of coverage, and growing number of Citizen insurance policies. Another issue is likely to deal with the state and local government investment policy dealing with ESG. The Governor and Speaker had a press conference this summer to address the problems and costs associated with adherence to ESG scores and policies. The Governor and Cabinet sitting as the trustees for the State Board of Administration (SBA) passed a resolution prohibiting the SBA from considering the ESG policies of potential investment funds. The SBA is to be guided solely by the potential profits and losses to the state’s funds. We expect legislation to address investments and contracts by the state and local governments. We have not seen language, but it is the most talked about bill in Tallahassee. We also expect the PACE lenders to make another run to expand their program. They could file a bill again that opens the program to commercial properties and covers mold and lead paint remediation, sea walls and other flooding projects, and septic to sewer conversions, among other projects. Naturally, they will not entertain any amendments to change their lien priority position. Finally, we have worked with the Florida title industry on a bill concerning estoppel letters. We had agreed to language last Session, only to watch the bill fail to pass for unrelated reasons. What can you do? As always, we need your help to be successful in the 2023 Session. How can you help? First, get to know your state legislators now before you have to ask them

12 — FLORIDA BANKING THE VOICE OF FLORIDA BANKING