Schedule of Events
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Registration at the Aloft Hotel
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Hospitality Suite in “w xyz Lounge”
at the Aloft Hotel
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Breakfast at Aloft or DoubleTree
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Registration at the Capitol Rotunda
8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Tech Lounge 2nd Floor of the
Capitol Rotunda
8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Exhibits in the Capitol Rotunda
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Speaker’s Forum
Noon - 1:30 p.m. Legislative Appreciation Luncheon
on 22nd Floor of the Capitol
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Capitol Reception in the Capitol Courtyard
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Hospitality Suite at the Pool Deck at the DoubleTree Hotel
Sponsors
About PBC Day 2023
PBC Day 2023 Glittered Like Gold
Palm Beach County Day 2023 was a great success! Our theme of “Legislate 23” was a lot of fun and you can check on the progress of our legislative priorities as well as some great photos inside.
Plans are already underway for Palm Beach County Day 2024. Our theme for 2024 will be “Palm Beach County: What A Ride” and will focus on Palm Beach County’s transportation priorities. Henry Morrison Flagler made Palm Beach County a destination by building his railroad. Transportation is at the heart of Palm Beach County, so we hope you will help us celebrate our rich transportation heritage in Tallahassee during Palm Beach County Day taking place January 9-10, 2024.
Please stay up-to-date with the latest information on Palm Beach County Day 2024 at our website: pbcgov.com/pbcday.
For PBC Day 2024 sponsorship opportunities, please see the insert inside this newsletter or you can email: PBC-DaySponsor@pbcgov.org.
Legislative Update PBC Day 2023
The 2023 Legislative Session began on March 7th and ended as scheduled on May 5th. The first session held since last year’s redistricting, the legislature convened with two new presiding officers, a large amount of freshman lawmakers, more committees than in recent years, and a Republican supermajority in both chambers.
Over the 60-day session, members of the legislature dedicated a significant amount of time to debating a variety of contentious topics including a 6-week abortion ban, universal school vouchers, immigration, permitless concealed carry, adult performances, treatments for transgender youth, and the Reedy Creek Improvement District (Disney’s special district).
There were also several bills of interest relating to local government that were considered. One of these was Senate President Kathleen Passidomo’s top priority, SB 102 by Senator Calatayud. This bill created a new framework for affordable and workforce housing in Florida. It also allocates a historic $711 million in state funding to assist local governments in their efforts to encourage more attainable housing and to incentivize developers to build more units. The legislation ultimately passed with overwhelming support in both chambers and it was signed into law by the Governor in March.
Florida’s local governments and their associations were also watching SB 170 by Senator Trumbull relating to local ordinances. The bill requires local governments to prepare and publish online a “business impact statement” prior to adopting certain ordinances. In addition, the bill allows challenges to ordinances based on the grounds that they are “arbitrary or unreasonable” and it gives courts authorization to assess and award attorney fees in certain civil actions filed against local governments associated with the adoption of the ordinance. The bill passed with a majority of Democrats voting against the measure in both the House and Senate.
Before adjourning the 2023 Legislative Session, lawmakers approved a record $117 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 23-24. The largest budget in state history, it sits at about $7 billion larger than last fiscal year and $25 billion larger than the state spending plan was just three years ago. Our state has recentlyseen massive growth in revenue from increased tax collections, a growing economy fed by an increasing population, and a huge influx of federal dollars.
This session, a total of 1,873 bills and 2,674 amendments were filed. Similar to previous years, county government was the third most frequent topic addressed by the bills filed this session. Of the bills submitted for consideration, 356 of them successfully made it through both the House and Senate.