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HB 723 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to rural counties; amending s. 212.08, 2
F.S.; providing an exemption from the sales and use 3
tax for industrial machinery and equipment used by 4
wholesalers in fiscally constrained counties; amending 5
s. 215.971, F.S.; clarifying a provision relating to 6
agreements funded with federal or state assistance; 7
requiring a state agency to expedite certain payment 8
requests; amending s. 216.0153, F.S.; prohibiting the 9
state from purchasing certain land in a fiscally 10
constrained county; providing exceptions; requiring 11
the Department of Environmental Protection to provide 12
a certain explanation to a fiscally constrained county 13
within a specified timeframe; amending s. 339.2816, 14
F.S.; increasing the amount of an annual appropriation 15
to the Small County Road Assistance Program beginning 16
in a specified fiscal year; amending s. 339.2818, 17
F.S.; authorizing a specified amount from the State 18
Transportation Trust Fund to be used to fund the Small 19
County Outreach Program beginning in a specified 20
fiscal year; amending s. 409.975, F.S.; requiring the 21
Agency for Health Care Administration to determine 22
which providers in hospitals located in rural areas 23
are essential Medicaid providers; creating s. 1011.79, 24
F.S.; creating the Rural District Graduate Placement 25
HB 723 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Incentive Pilot program within the Department of 26
Education for a specified purpose; subject to 27
legislative appropriation, requiring the department to 28
provide a certain bonus to a school district or 29
charter school located in a fiscally constrained 30
county for specified purposes; requiring the amount of 31
the bonus to be specified in the General 32
Appropriations Act; providing for proration of funds; 33
requiring a graduate's employment to be verified using 34
certain data; requiring certain entities to assist 35
rural school districts and charter schools with 36
increasing the employment of certain students; 37
requiring rural school districts and charter schools 38
that earn a bonus to use such funds for specified 39
purposes; providing for expiration; requiring the 40
State Board of Education to adopt rules; providing an 41
effective date. 42
43
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 44
45
Section 1. Paragraph (w) is added to subsection (5) of 46
section 212.08, Florida Statutes, to read: 47
212.08 Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution, and 48
storage tax; specified exemptions.—The sale at retail, the 49
rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and the 50
HB 723 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
storage to be used or consumed in this state of the following 51
are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed by this 52
chapter. 53
(5) EXEMPTIONS; ACCOUNT OF USE.— 54
(w) Industrial machinery and equipment used by food 55
wholesalers in fiscally constrained counties.— 56
1. As used in this paragraph: 57
a. "Fiscally constrained county" means a county that is 58
entirely within a rural area of opportunity as designated by the 59
Governor pursuant to s. 288.0656 or a county for which the value 60
of a mill will raise no more than $5 million in revenue, based 61
on the taxable value certified pursuant to s. 1011.62(4)(a)1.a., 62
from the previous July 1. 63
b. "Food establishment" has the same meaning as in s. 64
500.03. 65
c. "Industrial machinery and equipment" means tangible 66
personal property or other property that has a depreciable life 67
of at least 3 years and that is used as an integral part in the 68
manufacturing, processing, packing, holding, production, or sale 69
of wholesale food products. The term includes a building and its 70
structural components, including heating and air-conditioning 71
systems. 72
2. Industrial machinery and equipment purchased by a food 73
establishment that is manufacturing, processing, packing, 74
holding, producing, or selling food at wholesale at fixed 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
locations within a fiscally constrained county is exempt from 76
the tax imposed by this chapter. If, at the time of purchase, 77
the purchaser furnishes the seller with a signed certificate 78
certifying the purchaser's entitlement to exemption permitted by 79
this paragraph, the seller is not required to collect the tax on 80
the sale of such item, and the department shall look solely to 81
the purchaser for recovery of the tax if it determines that the 82
purchaser was not entitled to the exemption. 83
Section 2. Paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section 84
215.971, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 85
215.971 Agreements funded with federal or state 86
assistance.— 87
(1) An agency agreement that provides state financial 88
assistance to a recipient or subrecipient, as those terms are 89
defined in s. 215.97, or that provides federal financial 90
assistance to a subrecipient, as defined by applicable United 91
States Office of Management and Budget circulars, must include 92
all of the following: 93
(h) If the agency agreement provides federal or state 94
financial assistance to a county or municipality that is a rural 95
community or rural area of opportunity as those terms are 96
defined in s. 288.0656(2), a provision allowing the agency to 97
provide for the payment of invoices to the county, municipality, 98
or rural area of opportunity as that term is defined in s. 99
288.0656(2), for verified and eligible performance that has been 100
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completed in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth 101
in the agreement. Such provision is not intended to require 102
reimbursement to the county or municipality that is a rural 103
community or rural area of opportunity for invoices paid but is 104
intended to allow the agency to provide for the payment of 105
invoices due. The agency shall expedite such payment requests in 106
order to facilitate the timely payment of invoices received by 107
the county or municipality that is a rural community or rural 108
area of opportunity. This provision is included to alleviate the 109
financial hardships that certain rural counties and 110
municipalities encounter when administering agreements, and must 111
be exercised by the agency when a county or municipality 112
demonstrates financial hardship, to the extent that federal or 113
state law, rule, or other regulation allows such payments. This 114
paragraph may not be construed to alter or limit any other 115
provisions of federal or state law, rule, or other regulation. 116
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 216.0153, Florida 117
Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (4), and a new subsection 118
(3) is added to that section to read: 119
216.0153 Comprehensive state-owned real property system.—120
Whereas, the Legislature finds that it is in the best interest 121
of the state to identify surplus property and dispose of such 122
property owned by the state that is unnecessary to achieving the 123
state's responsibilities, that may cost more to maintain than 124
the revenue generated, that does not serve any public purpose, 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
or from which the state may derive a substantially similar 126
public purpose under private ownership. 127
(3)(a) The state may not purchase any land in a fiscally 128
constrained county as defined in s. 212.08(5)(w)1. if the 129
combination of federal- and state-owned lands is greater than 40 130
percent of the total land in the fiscally constrained county. 131
This paragraph does not apply if: 132
1. The state identifies a parcel of land in the fiscally 133
constrained county that can be surplused. 134
2. The state obtains approval for the purchase from the 135
fiscally constrained county. 136
(b) The fiscally constrained county may request that the 137
Department of Environmental Protection analyze whether the 138
county should approve the purchase. The Department of 139
Environmental Protection shall conduct an analysis and provide a 140
detailed written explanation to the fiscally constrained county 141
within 90 days. 142
Section 4. Subsection (3) of section 339.2816, Florida 143
Statutes, is amended to read: 144
339.2816 Small County Road Assistance Program.— 145
(3) Beginning in with fiscal year 2026-2027 1999-2000 146
until fiscal year 2009-2010, and beginning again with fiscal 147
year 2012-2013, up to $50 $25 million annually from the State 148
Transportation Trust Fund may be used for the purposes of 149
funding the Small County Road Assistance Program as described in 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
this section. 151
Section 5. Subsection (9) is added to section 339.2818, 152
Florida Statutes, to read: 153
339.2818 Small County Outreach Program.— 154
(9) Beginning in fiscal year 2026-2027, and annually 155
thereafter, at least $50 million from the State Transportation 156
Trust Fund may be used to fund the Small County Outreach 157
Program. 158
Section 6. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 159
409.975, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 160
409.975 Managed care plan accountability.—In addition to 161
the requirements of s. 409.967, plans and providers 162
participating in the managed medical assistance program shall 163
comply with the requirements of this section. 164
(1) PROVIDER NETWORKS.—Managed care plans must develop and 165
maintain provider networks that meet the medical needs of their 166
enrollees in accordance with standards established pursuant to 167
s. 409.967(2)(c). Except as provided in this section, managed 168
care plans may limit the providers in their networks based on 169
credentials, quality indicators, and price. 170
(a) Plans must include all providers in the region that 171
are classified by the agency as essential Medicaid providers, 172
unless the agency approves, in writing, an alternative 173
arrangement for securing the types of services offered by the 174
essential providers. Providers are essential for serving 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Medicaid enrollees if they offer services that are not available 176
from any other provider within a reasonable access standard, or 177
if they provided a substantial share of the total units of a 178
particular service used by Medicaid patients within the region 179
during the last 3 years and the combined capacity of other 180
service providers in the region is insufficient to meet the 181
total needs of the Medicaid patients. The agency may not 182
classify physicians and other practitioners as essential 183
providers. The agency, at a minimum, shall determine which 184
providers in the following categories are essential Medicaid 185
providers: 186
1. Federally qualified health centers. 187
2. Statutory teaching hospitals as defined in s. 188
408.07(46). 189
3. Hospitals that are trauma centers as defined in s. 190
395.4001(15). 191
4. Hospitals located at least 25 miles from any other 192
hospital with similar services. 193
5. Hospitals located in rural areas. 194
195
Managed care plans that have not contracted with all essential 196
providers in the region as of the first date of recipient 197
enrollment, or with whom an essential provider has terminated 198
its contract, must negotiate in good faith with such essential 199
providers for 1 year or until an agreement is reached, whichever 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
is first. Payments for services rendered by a nonparticipating 201
essential provider shall be made at the applicable Medicaid rate 202
as of the first day of the contract between the agency and the 203
plan. A rate schedule for all essential providers shall be 204
attached to the contract between the agency and the plan. After 205
1 year, managed care plans that are unable to contract with 206
essential providers shall notify the agency and propose an 207
alternative arrangement for securing the essential services for 208
Medicaid enrollees. The arrangement must rely on contracts with 209
other participating providers, regardless of whether those 210
providers are located within the same region as the 211
nonparticipating essential service provider. If the alternative 212
arrangement is approved by the agency, payments to 213
nonparticipating essential providers after the date of the 214
agency's approval shall equal 90 percent of the applicable 215
Medicaid rate. Except for payment for emergency services, if the 216
alternative arrangement is not approved by the agency, payment 217
to nonparticipating essential providers shall equal 110 percent 218
of the applicable Medicaid rate. 219
Section 7. Section 1011.79, Florida Statutes, is created 220
to read: 221
1011.79 Rural District Graduate Placement Incentive Pilot 222
Program.— 223
(1) The Rural District Graduate Placement Incentive Pilot 224
Program is created within the Department of Education for the 225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
purpose of financially rewarding rural school districts and 226
charter schools for preparing high school graduates with in-227
demand certifications required for employment. 228
(2) Subject to legislative appropriation, the Department 229
of Education shall provide a bonus to a school district or 230
charter school located in a fiscally constrained county as 231
defined in s. 212.08(5)(w)1. for increasing the percentage of 232
students who: 233
(a) Graduate from a high school or charter school within 234
the district. 235
(b) Earn an industry certification included on the CAPE 236
Industry Certification Funding List described in s. 1008.44 237
while enrolled in a high school or charter school within the 238
district. 239
(c) Are employed in the fiscally constrained county in a 240
field for which such industry certification is required within 6 241
months after graduation. 242
(d) Remain employed in such field for at least 3 months. 243
(3) The amount of the bonus shall be specified in the 244
General Appropriations Act. If the appropriated funds are 245
insufficient to fully fund the total number of eligible high 246
school graduates, such funds must be prorated based on each 247
eligible school's proportionate share of the total number of 248
eligible high school graduates. 249
(4) A graduate's employment shall be verified using data 250
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
contained in the Florida Education and Training Placement 251
Information Program described in s. 1008.39. 252
(5) Each local workforce development board, education and 253
industry consortium described in s. 445.07, and regional 254
educational consortia described in s. 1001.451 shall assist 255
rural school districts and charter schools with increasing the 256
employment of students who have earned an industry certification 257
included on the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List 258
described in s. 1008.44. 259
(6) A rural school district or charter school that earns a 260
bonus pursuant to this section must use such funds to benefit 261
the workforce education programs provided by the school district 262
or charter school. Such funds may be used to upgrade equipment 263
or expand or otherwise improve such programs. 264
(7) This section expires July 1, 2029, unless reenacted by 265
the Legislature. 266
(8) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to 267
implement and administer this section. 268
Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 269