Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida March Ditchmen 2016 | Page 9

Budget Quickly Signed by Governor

The Legislature quickly sent Governor Rick Scott the budget. As promised, he signed it but not before vetoing more than $256 million of the state’s $82.3 billion spending plan. He had announced earlier his plan to veto "projects that do not provide a significant return on taxpayer investment." The budget included 91 water and sewer projects totaling $81.7 million. In his veto, the Governor trimmed that number to 31 cutting the total appropriated for these projects down to $61.6 million.

Legislature Addresses Construction Workforce Shortage

The Florida Legislature addressed the critical shortage of a trained construction workforce this session as they created the Construction Industry Workforce Task Force within the University of Florida M. E. Rinker, Sr., School of Construction Management. The task force was established within this year’s building code bill, HB 535. It specifies the goals and composition of the task force of which NUCA of Florida will have a member. Funding is provided for the task force from the building permit surcharge (Building Code Compliance & Mitigation Program). The governor is expected to sign the bill in to law.

There will be a more detailed final report coming once the governor has taken final action on all on the bills passed during the 2016 Legislative Session. Thank you for the opportunity to once again represent NUCA of Florida before the Florida Legislature.

The 2016 Session Crawls to Completion

R. Bruce Kershner

NUCA of Florida Director of Government Affairs