Florida’s builders will have six priorities for the 2012 Florida Legislature. The priorities were set by the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Florida Homes Builders Association at a Tampa meeting last month.
The legislature starts its session in January and the state builders’ “visitation” days are Jan. 24-25.
The priorities:
• A cost-effective, local-option septic tank inspection program.
• Streamlined permitting for installation of on-site sewage treatment systems.
• The final phase of funding for a study of passive septic tank systems.
• Continued state funding for building code education.
• A return to full funding of Sadowski affordable housing dollars.
• Implementation of a previously-adopted constitutional amendment that essentially gives property tax breaks to homeowners who invest in energy-efficient home improvements.
“Due to the once-every-ten-years requirement for reapportionment, the session moves to the January-February time slot (as opposed to the typical March-April schedule) and will be dominated by the redrawing of legislative and Congressional districts,” said FHBA President Dave Carter of Winter Haven. “While the timing has changed, one thing has not: the Florida Home Builders Association’s vital role of promoting and protecting its interests to lawmakers.”
He added, “... those initiatives, which become the litmus test for the development of our Legislative Scorecard, (will indicate) which legislators have been naughty or nice with respect to their support for housing.”