Governmental Affairs
Links to Statutes and Rules Affecting Our Profession:
Chapter 455 Business and Professional Regulation: General Provisions
Chapter 481 Part II: Landscape Architecture
Rule 61G10 Board of Landscape Architecture
FLASLA Supports Florida Green Industry Coalition Position Statement on Landscape Irrigation Standards
As Florida’s elected leaders and government regulators struggle with maintaining the balance between business, citizen and environmental needs for our limited water resources, Florida Green Industry professionals have been engaged at every level of government, providing knowledgeable input on regulatory and policy initiatives which directly impact our businesses and Florida’s economy.
The Florida Green Industry Coalition represents an ad-hoc group of representatives from all aspects of Florida’s Green Industry, including the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association; Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects; Florida Farm Bureau Federation; Florida Turfgrass Association; Florida Landscape Maintenance Association; Florida Irrigation Society; Florida Sod Growers Cooperative; Florida Golf Course Superintendents Association; and the Irrigation Association.
The driving purpose of the Florida Green Industry Coalition is to develop Policy Position Papers and other resources which can be utilized at the local, regional and state levels in developing sound public policy decisions. The Florida Green Industry Coalition has developed three policy position papers: Industry Professionalism; Water Conservation; and Landscape Irrigation Standards.
Download the Position Statement on Landscape Irrigation Standards
2009 Stormwater Task Force
Submits Report to Florida Legislature
The Stormwater Task Force, authorized by the Florida Legislature in 2009, recently submitted its final report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President. General findings identified by the task force included:
- The current system for regulating the practice of stormwater management system design has led to confusion regarding roles and regulation.
- Stormwater Management System Design Professionals often work in coordination and collaboration with other licensed professionals for the design of complex systems.
- The Task Force finds that there is no basis for amending the practice acts of Stormwater system design professionals.
- The current system for regulating the practice of stormwater management system design has assured that stormwater management systems are designed and constructed consistent with regulations.
- Based on the information the Task Force received from the WMDs and the respective licensing boards to date, the current regulatory system as practiced, including local interpretation and permit review, has not resulted in harm to the public health, safety and welfare from the design of stormwater management systems.
The full report and background documentation pertaining to the task force can be found at http://consensus.fsu.edu/stormwater-task-force/index.html. FLASLA and the GAC will continue to work with the Florida Legislature and FES leading into the 2010 session to continue discussions related to the regulation of stormwater management practice. If you have comments, suggestions, or require additional information please contact Shawn Kalbli, Chair Government Affairs Committee at govtaffairschair@flasla.org.
Florida Institutions with Programs in Landscape Architecture
FLASLA Retains Legal and Legislative Representation for 2010 Legislative Session
by Rutledge, Ecenia, Purnell and Hoffman P.A.
FLASLA has retained the firm Rutledge, Ecenia, Purnell & Hoffman P.A. to serve as the association’s legal and legislative representatives before Florida’s Legislative and Executive Branches of government.
Florida’s government is set up in the same manner as the federal government employing three branches; the executive branch, headed by the Governor and including all state agencies; the legislative branch, which like the US Congress is a bicameral system that utilizes two elected bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate; and the judicial branch. In representing the interests of FLASLA our firm will primarily focus on the legislative branch and the rule making procedures within the executive branch. With the 2010 Legislative session looming, this article will concentrate on providing basic information on how legislation moves through the legislative process and provide a foundation for future articles that will address some legislation of specific interest to FLASLA.
The Florida Senate consists of 40 members, whereas the House is comprised of 120 members. Each body has a presiding officer that is responsible for leading his chamber. In order for any bill to become a law both the House and Senate must pass the legislation in identical form.
Whereas the House and Senate operate in much the same way, they each have their own committee processes. In the House, bills are filed and then referenced to committees and councils to be heard. In the House system a committee is a subset of a council, therefore when a bill is referenced to a council, that council will further reference the bill to the most appropriate committee that is a subset of that council. For instance, should a bill be filed relating to fertilizer, it would likely be referred to the Environmental and Natural Resources Council and further referenced from the council level to the Agribusiness Committee. The Agribusiness Committee is basically a sub-committee to the council. Should that same bill also have an impact to the state budget, referred to as a fiscal impact, it would also be referenced to the House Policy and Budget Council. This council hears any bill that affects the budget.
In the Senate the same bill dealing with regulation of fertilizer would likely be referred to the Agriculture Committee, however unlike the House Agribusiness Committee, this committee is not a subset of a larger council. Using the same example, and assuming the bill did have a fiscal impact, the bill would also be heard in the General Government Appropriations Committee. The difference with this versus the House is that in the House all bills with a fiscal impact are heard by one council, that being the House Policy and Budget Council. In the Senate there are eight different committees that serve the same purpose as the House Policy and Budget Council. Rather than all bills with a fiscal impact being heard by one body, the Senate has a different committee hear bills with fiscal impacts based on the subject of the bill. For instance, were there a bill dealing with the prison system that was going to cost the state money it would be heard by the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, unlike a bill that impacts the education budget, which would be heard by the Education Pre-K-12 Appropriations Committee.
Returning to our example of a bill that regulates fertilizer, let’s assume that the Senate bill has passed all of its committees and is now being heard in the Senate Chamber so it can be voted on by all Senate members. The House bill has also passed all of its committee and council stops but has not yet been taken up on the House floor. Let’s also assume that both bills, in their current forms, match perfectly. What will likely happen is the Senate will take up and pass the Senate bill and after it is passed it will be sent to the House of Representatives. Rather than the House passing their version of the bill, they will instead take up and pass the Senate bill. Once the House passes the Senate bill it is sent to the Governor for him to either sign the bill into law or veto the legislation.
What has been provided is a very basic explanation of the Florida legislative process. For a much more in-depth analysis of how a bill becomes a law within the state of Florida click on this link which will take you to a .pdf document created by the Florida House of Representatives.
About The Legislative Process How A Bill Becomes Law Explanation
Rutledge, Ecenia, Purnell and Hoffman P.A. looks forward to representing the interests of FLASLA and meeting many members of the organization at the Capitol.
FLASLA Position on Hometown Democracy
The Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (FLASLA) opposes the Hometown Democracy Constitutional Amendment.
FLASLA supports local government authority to fund and implement sound planning practices and opposes preemption of this authority. Furthermore, FLASLA strongly supports citizen access and public input to the comprehensive planning process and is committed to improving citizen involvement through local planning initiatives and legislative changes to Florida's growth management framework.
FLASLA strongly opposes efforts to require referenda for comprehensive plan amendments, such as proposed by the Hometown Democracy Constitutional Amendment. FLASLA believes that approval of comprehensive plan amendments by referenda will be counterproductive to the public health, safety, and welfare, to environmental sustainability, to quality community planning initiatives, will become a tax burden to municipalities, and will not produce better land use decisions. The use of referenda is not an effective growth management tool.
Approved October 20, 2007
Florida Chapter ASLA 2007-2008 Executive Committee
February 1, 2008 - Hometown Democracy, Inc. Falls Short
Your Membership Dues at work….Legislative Services
As the Chapter prepares for the 2010 Legislative Session with a new legislative and lobbying consultant, the Government Affairs Committee (GAC) would like to take look back at how our organization funds these services. In 1999 a Florida Chapter membership dues increase was approved and ratified by the membership at the Annual Business Meeting. The motion, as submitted and approved, raised the annual Chapter membership dues by $50.00 to fund an identified need and the expenses related to hiring legislative and legal consultants to strengthen licensure and reduce barriers to practice. Since then our membership has grown to nearly 1,000 members thereby increasing the annual budget allocation for legislative and lobbying services.
With your $50 investment each year, our consultants helped preserve and protect the rights of Licensed Landscape Architects across the state through increased efforts on behalf of the membership. Particular highlights of those efforts include the three year effort, led by the GAC, to amend the 2004 Florida Building Code to include Landscape Architects in the definition of 'Design Professionals'. Prior, only Architects and Engineers were recognized as providers of code required construction documents. This amendment significantly increased practice opportunities for members statewide. Additionally, through our consultant services, we gained explicit recognition within Florida Department of Environmental Protection regulations. Efforts are ongoing with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Engineering Society to further recognize our profession. During the 2010 Legislative Session continued monitoring and regular updates to the Chapter will be necessary in order to maintain our standing in the state.
If you would like to know more about current GAC initiatives or become involved please do not hesitate to contact Shawn Kalbli, ASLA at govtaffairschair@flasla.org.
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