Public Affairs Documents 2018 Legislative Priorities | Page 2

2018 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY STATEMENT
LOCAL ISSUES
K-12 EDUCATION
The Chamber supports Polk County Public
Schools on the following legislative priorities:
Allow School Board to restore .5 Mill to Local
Capital Improvement levy (to 2 mills).
Equalize capital funding across districts.
Modify statewide formula for PECO distribution
among all receiving entities to one based upon
need.
Reinstate PECO New Construction funding.
Replace compression adjustment with
equalization of discretionary millage.
Revise cut scores on the general knowledge
exam required for teacher certification.
Redirect Best and Brightest Funding to salary
increases for teachers.
Allow 30-day rehire of Effective and Highly
Effective teachers under FRS.
Require a study of ESE identification and
funding mechanism’s effectiveness.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Polk State College
The Chamber supports Polk State College's
funding requests for:
$16,272,759 in PECO funds to complete the
second phase of renovations to Building 4, a
67,000 -square-foot classroom facility on the
Winter Haven campus. Requested funds
would address renovations and safety
improvements to a nearly 40-year-old
classrooms, labs, and faculty offices, and;
$2 million in recurring operating funds to
lessen the student to advisor ratio and improve
student retention and completion.
Florida Polytechnic University
The Chamber supports Florida Polytechnic
University's requests for:
$26,700,000 to build the Applied Research
Center which will provide space for research,
entrepreneurship, and moving research to
market;
$5,000,000 to begin the Advanced Mobility
Institute,which will serve as the research arm of
SunTrax;
$4,500,000 for the Technology Education Model
Program, which will re-invent the way STEM
fields are taught, and;
$4,493,400 for Sustainability for Economic
Growth, which will broaden the work of the
Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research
Institute to include food, energy and water.
CERTIFICATE OF NEED
The Chamber joins the City of Lakeland and
Lakeland Regional Health in support of the
continuation of Florida's Certificate of Need
process to ensure patient access to quality, vital
healthcare service.
CHAMBER ADVOCACY COMMITTEE
Vice Chair, Advocacy Shane Kunze - Publix Super Markets, Inc.
Committee Members
Rich Berg - MaxPak
Maria Mahoney - The Mahoney Group
Tony Delgado - City of Lakeland
Matt Mucci - AT&T
Wendy Dodge - PCPS
David Robinson - DSM
Peter Elliott - Polk State College
Cindy Rodriguez - SFWMD
Mike Hickman - Hickman Homes
Laura Rodriguez - Lakeland Vision
Valeria Jorn - Tri-County Human Services William Roll - Kimley-Horn
Erin Killebrew - Citrus Connection
Sandy Sheets - GrayRobinson
John Lancaster - CCLM
Michael Spake - LRH
Will Link - Reed, Mawhinney & Link
Julie Townsend - LDDA
Patti Loftin - Regions Bank
Ashley Troutman - Northwestern Mutual
President Cory Skeates - Lakeland Chamber of Commerce