HB 401

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to affordable housing; amending s.
3	420.503, F.S.; revising the definition of "farmworker"
4	under the Florida Housing Finance Corporation Act;
5	providing rulemaking authority; amending s. 420.5087,
6	F.S.; increasing the population thresholds used in
7	determining the distribution of program funds under the
8	State Apartment Incentive Loan Program; amending s.
9	420.5088, F.S.; revising an income limitation applicable
10	to buyers of certain units under the Florida Homeownership
11	Assistance Program; amending s. 420.9075, F.S., relating
12	to local housing assistance plans; revising methods for
13	calculating the sales price of certain housing; repealing
14	s. 420.37, F.S., relating to additional powers of the
15	Florida Housing Finance Corporation; providing an
16	appropriation; providing rulemaking authority; providing
17	an effective date.
18
19	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21	Section 1.  Subsection (18) of section 420.503, Florida
22	Statutes, is amended to read:
23	420.503  Definitions.--As used in this part, the term:
24	(18)(a)  "Farmworker" means a laborer who is employed on a
25	seasonal, temporary, or permanent basis in the planting,
26	cultivating, harvesting, or processing of agricultural or
27	aquacultural products and who derived at least 50 percent of her
28	or his income in the immediately preceding 12 months from such
29	employment.
30	(b)  "Farmworker" also includes a person who has retired as
31	a laborer due to age, disability, or illness. In order to be
32	considered retired as a farmworker due to age under this part, a
33	person must be 50 years of age or older and must have been
34	employed for a minimum of 5 years as a farmworker before
35	retirement. In order to be considered retired as a farmworker
36	due to disability or illness, a person must:
37	1.(a)  Establish medically that she or he is unable to be
38	employed as a farmworker due to that disability or illness.
39	2.(b)  Establish that she or he was previously employed as
40	a farmworker.
41	(c)  Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b), when
42	corporation-administered funds are used in conjunction with
43	United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development funds,
44	the term "farmworker" may mean a laborer who meets, at a
45	minimum, the definition of "domestic farm laborer" as found in 7
46	C.F.R. s. 3560.11, as amended. The corporation may establish
47	additional criteria by rule.
48	Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 420.5087, Florida
49	Statutes, is amended to read:
50	420.5087  State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.--There is
51	hereby created the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program for
52	the purpose of providing first, second, or other subordinated
53	mortgage loans or loan guarantees to sponsors, including for-
54	profit, nonprofit, and public entities, to provide housing
55	affordable to very-low-income persons.
56	(1)  Program funds shall be distributed over successive 3-
57	year periods in a manner that meets the need and demand for
58	very-low-income housing throughout the state. That need and
59	demand must be determined by using the most recent statewide
60	low-income rental housing market studies available at the
61	beginning of each 3-year period. However, at least 10 percent of
62	the program funds distributed during a 3-year period must be
63	allocated to each of the following categories of counties, as
64	determined by using the population statistics published in the
65	most recent edition of the Florida Statistical Abstract:
66	(a)  Counties that have a population of 825,000 or more.
67	than 500,000 people;
68	(b)  Counties that have a population of more than between
69	100,000 but less than 825,000. and 500,000 people; and
70	(c)  Counties that have a population of 100,000 or less.
71
72	Any increase in funding required to reach the 10-percent minimum
73	shall be taken from the county category that has the largest
74	allocation. The corporation shall adopt rules which establish an
75	equitable process for distributing any portion of the 10 percent
76	of program funds allocated to the county categories specified in
77	this subsection which remains unallocated at the end of a 3-year
78	period. Counties that have a population of 100,000 or less shall
79	be given preference under these rules.
80	Section 3.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section
81	420.5088, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
82	420.5088  Florida Homeownership Assistance Program.--There
83	is created the Florida Homeownership Assistance Program for the
84	purpose of assisting low-income persons in purchasing a home by
85	reducing the cost of the home with below-market construction
86	financing, by reducing the amount of down payment and closing
87	costs paid by the borrower to a maximum of 5 percent of the
88	purchase price, or by reducing the monthly payment to an
89	affordable amount for the purchaser. Loans shall be made
90	available at an interest rate that does not exceed 3 percent.
91	The balance of any loan is due at closing if the property is
92	sold or transferred.
93	(2)  For loans made pursuant to s. 420.507(23)(a)3.:
94	(e)  At least 30 percent of the units in a project financed
95	pursuant to this subsection must be sold to persons or families
96	who have incomes that do not exceed 80 percent of the state or
97	local median income, whichever amount is greater, adjusted for
98	family size; and at least another 30 percent of the units in a
99	project financed pursuant to this subsection must be sold to
100	persons or families who have incomes that do not exceed 65 50
101	percent of the state or local median income, whichever amount is
102	greater, adjusted for family size.
103	Section 4.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section
104	420.9075, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
105	420.9075  Local housing assistance plans; partnerships.--
106	(4)  The following criteria apply to awards made to
107	eligible sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of
108	providing eligible housing:
109	(c)  The sales price or value of new or existing eligible
110	housing may not exceed 90 percent of the average area purchase
111	price in the statistical area in which the eligible housing is
112	located. Such average area purchase price may be that calculated
113	for any 12-month period beginning not earlier than the fourth
114	calendar year prior to the year in which the award occurs or as
115	otherwise established by the United States Department of the
116	Treasury.
117
118	If both an award under the local housing assistance plan and
119	federal low-income housing tax credits are used to assist a
120	project and there is a conflict between the criteria prescribed
121	in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal
122	Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or eligible
123	municipality may resolve the conflict by giving precedence to
124	the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
125	as amended, in lieu of following the criteria prescribed in this
126	subsection with the exception of paragraphs (a) and (d) of this
127	subsection.
128	Section 5.  Section 420.37, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
129	Section 6.  The sum of $20 million is appropriated from the
130	State Housing Trust Fund to the Florida Housing Finance
131	Corporation for the 2006-2007 fiscal year to provide funds to
132	teachers eligible for affordable housing pursuant to s. 420.5088
133	or s. 420.5089, Florida Statutes, and to assist in teacher
134	retention and recruitment as a response to the state's teacher
135	shortage.
136	Section 7.  The Florida Housing Finance Corporation may
137	adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida
138	Statutes, as necessary to implement the provisions of section 6
139	of this act.
140	Section 8.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.