City Council Gets 2024 Legislative Update

The 2024 Florida legislative session may be history and now communities are dealing with new laws and programs from Tallahassee.

At a recent meeting, Palm Coast City Council members got an update from lobbyist Kaura Boehmer from The Southern Group.

“I see you packed the house for me, so that’s very nice of you,” Boehmer said, referring to the large crowd on hand for the council meeting. “We had a great session thanks to our wonderful delegation partners.”

Boehmer reviewed some general statistics from the session, which ended March 8, including the introduction of 1,957 bills – 325 of which passed both legislative chambers – and record-breaking state budget of $116.4 billion.

The budget included several appropriations for the city, including $4 million for the Colbert/Blare drainage improvements; $2 million for the rapid infiltration basin land acquisition; $5 million for the rapid infiltration basin expansion; and $1 million for the Wastewater Treatment Facility No. 1 capacity expansion. Several transportation infrastructure items for the city were also part of the state budget, including $30,100,000 for the Loop Road connector; $24,950,000 for the Palm Coast Parkway Extension loop road; $24,950,000 for the Matanzas Woods Parkway extension loop road; and $6 million for the Town Center YMCA project.

“This is all subject to the governor receiving the budget,” Boehmer said.

Boehmer said affordable housing received funding, but “not quite to the levels last year with the Live Local Act.”

Another item included in the budget is $40 million for cybersecurity issues.

“We convinced (them) to reallocate those $40 million back into this year’s budget so local governments can apply for those cybersecurity grants,” Boehmer said.

Chief of Staff Jason DeLorenzo said cybersecurity funding is important for the city.

“This was something that our IT director asked us to inquire about,” he said. “We’re looking for some grants from this particular package of money.”

DeLorenzo said getting that funding reallocated is an example of how valuable The Southern Group’s efforts are to Palm Coast.

“This is how we work together,” he said. “We reach back out to Laura (to) help us understand what’s happening with those dollars and then they work their magic.”

Mayor David Alfin praised Boehmer and The Southern Group for their efforts and acknowledged the work of the local delegation, State Sen. Travis Hutson and Speaker of the House Paul Renner.

“There’s a lot of detailed information that was just presented and for the public to understand that city staff along with the lobby folks have been working on these words literally line by line literally for a year and are ready to start again,” he said.

DeLorenzo said city staff meets with the lobbyists often when the legislature is in session.

“We are constantly reviewing bills and discussing what’s coming up and what could affect the city of Palm Coast,” he said.