Financial Impact Estimating Conference – Page 2

State panel talks dollars and cents of medical pot

Published on September 30, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Jim Rosica

It’s still not clear how much a proposed constitutional amendment allowing medical use of marijuana will cost the state to implement, nor how much Florida will gain financially from it. The state’s Financial Impact Estimating Conference, made up of various state officials, met Wednesday to go over nearly 600 pages of reference material on the initiative. One estimate in the materials showed administrative costs to the state of more than $1 million, but also showed such costs would likely be offset by…

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Cities, utilities say solar customers would get away without paying under proposed amendment

Published on April 10, 2015 in Top Headlines by Bruce Ritchie

A proposed solar energy amendment could unfairly shift the cost of maintaining electricity plants and power lines from homes and businesses with solar energy to other utility customers, representatives of cities and electric utilities said Friday. Floridians for Solar Choice proposes a constitutional amendment establishing that the state’s policy is to promote local, small-scale solar energy production and prohibit barriers to solar energy. The group has collected enough petition signatures for review by the Florida Supreme Court but still needs…

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Solar bills falter in Legislature while ballot initiative rolls on

Published on April 10, 2015 in Top Headlines by Bruce Ritchie

With a solar energy constitutional amendment proposed for the 2016 ballot, a pair of bills designed to provide tax savings for residents who install solar on their homes appears dead in the 2015 legislative session. SB 400 by state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg, would provide a ballot measure to extend a residential property tax exemption for renewable energy, as already is provided in the state Constitution, to commercial property. SB 402 is an implementing bill, also filed…

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