Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1622
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-00732-22                                           20221622__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to workforce retention; creating s.
    3         559.953, F.S.; providing a short title; creating s.
    4         559.9531, F.S.; defining terms; creating s. 559.9532,
    5         F.S.; requiring certain employers that intend to
    6         relocate out of state or cease operation to notify the
    7         Department of Business and Professional Regulation
    8         within a specified timeframe; requiring the department
    9         to compile and publish a semiannual list of employers
   10         that relocate out of state or cease operation;
   11         creating s. 559.9533, F.S.; providing that such
   12         employers are ineligible for state grants, loans, or
   13         tax benefits for a specified timeframe; requiring such
   14         employers to remit certain funds to the department
   15         under certain circumstances; providing exceptions;
   16         creating s. 559.9534, F.S.; requiring the head of each
   17         state agency to ensure that certain services are
   18         performed by state contractors within the state;
   19         requiring compliance by certain contractors by a
   20         specified date; requiring certain customer service
   21         employees to immediately be employed within the state;
   22         creating s. 559.9535, F.S.; providing construction;
   23         providing a directive to the Division of Law Revision;
   24         providing an effective date.
   25          
   26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         Section 1. Section 559.953, Florida Statutes, is created to
   29  read:
   30         559.953Short title.—Sections 559.953-559.9535 may be cited
   31  as the “Florida Jobs Retention Act of 2022.”
   32         Section 2. Section 559.9531, Florida Statutes, is created
   33  to read:
   34         559.9531Definitions.—As used in this act, the term:
   35         (1)“Department” means the Department of Business and
   36  Professional Regulation.
   37         (2)“Employer” means a business enterprise that:
   38         (a)Has been in operation in this state for at least 6
   39  months;
   40         (b)Employs 75 or more individuals who, in the aggregate,
   41  work at least 1,500 hours per week, not including hours of
   42  overtime, for the purpose of providing customer service or
   43  conducting back-office operations; and
   44         (c)Receives any direct or indirect state grant, state
   45  guaranteed loan, or state tax benefit.
   46         Section 3. Section 559.9532, Florida Statutes, is created
   47  to read:
   48         559.9532Employers intending to relocate out of state or
   49  cease operation.—
   50         (1)NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—An employer that intends to:
   51         (a)Relocate a Florida business, or one or more facilities
   52  or operating units within such business comprising at least 30
   53  percent of the business’s or operating unit’s total volume when
   54  measured against the previous 12-month average volume of
   55  operations, out of state; or
   56         (b)Cease operation of such business, facilities, or
   57  operating units,
   58  
   59  must notify the department at least 180 days before such
   60  relocation or cessation.
   61         (2)LIST COMPILATION.—The department shall compile and
   62  publish on its website a semiannual list of all employers that
   63  relocate or cease operation as described in subsection (1).
   64         Section 4. Section 559.9533, Florida Statutes, is created
   65  to read:
   66         559.9533Grants and guaranteed loans.—
   67         (1)INELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in subsection (3) and
   68  notwithstanding any other law, an employer included on the list
   69  described in s. 559.9532 is ineligible for any direct or
   70  indirect state grant, state-guaranteed loan, or state tax
   71  benefit for 5 years after the date such list is published.
   72         (2)REVERSION.—Except as provided in subsection (3) and
   73  notwithstanding any other law, an employer included on the list
   74  described in s. 559.9532 shall remit to the department the
   75  remaining prorated value of any state grant, state-guaranteed
   76  loan, state tax benefit, or other state governmental support
   77  received on or after the effective date of this act.
   78         (3)EXCEPTIONS.—The department, in consultation with the
   79  appropriate state agency providing a grant, loan, or tax
   80  benefit, may waive the requirements of this section if the
   81  employer applying for such grant, loan, or benefit demonstrates
   82  that returning such grant, loan, or benefit would result in:
   83         (a)Substantial job loss in this state; or
   84         (b)Harm to the environment.
   85         Section 5. Section 559.9534, Florida Statutes, is created
   86  to read:
   87         559.9534In-state procurement.—The head of each state
   88  agency shall ensure that all state-business-related customer
   89  service work is performed by state contractors or their agents
   90  or subcontractors entirely within the state. A state contractor
   91  who currently performs state-business-related customer service
   92  work outside the state must comply with this act within 2 years
   93  after the effective date of this act. If such a contractor hires
   94  additional customer service employees who will perform work on
   95  state agency contracts, those new employees must immediately be
   96  employed within the state.
   97         Section 6. Section 559.9535, Florida Statutes, is created
   98  to read:
   99         559.9535State benefits for workers.—This act may not be
  100  construed to allow withholding or denial of payments,
  101  compensation, or benefits under any other state law, including
  102  state unemployment compensation, disability payments, or worker
  103  retraining or readjustment funds, to workers employed by
  104  employers that relocate out of this state or that cease
  105  operation.
  106         Section 7. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
  107  replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
  108  occurs in this act with the date the act becomes effective.
  109         Section 8. This act shall take effect 240 days after
  110  becoming a law.