Florida SB 250: Prescriptive Authority Certification for Psychologists

Bill Text

250 
Rural Communities 
2026-01-14T12:10:23Z 
Requiring the state land planning agency to give preference for technical assistance funding to local governments located in a rural area of opportunity; revising the conditions required for a county to be considered a fiscally constrained county; creating the Office of Rural Prosperity within the Department of Commerce; requiring the Office of Rural Prosperity to administer the Renaissance Grants Program to provide block grants to eligible communities; creating the Public Infrastructure Smart Technology Grant Program within the Office of Rural Prosperity; creating the Florida Arterial Road Modernization Program within the Department of Transportation, etc. 
Engrossed 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
e1 

 SB 250 First Engrossed 

 2026250e1 

 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to rural communities; reenacting and 
 3 amending s. 20.60, F.S.; revising the list of 
 4 divisions and offices within the Department of 
 5 Commerce to conform to changes made by the act; 
 6 revising the annual program reports that must be 
 7 included in the annual report of the Department of 
 8 Commerce; amending s. 163.3168, F.S.; requiring the 
 9 state land planning agency to give preference for 
 10 technical assistance funding to local governments 
 11 located in a rural area of opportunity; requiring the 
 12 agency to consult with the Office of Rural Prosperity 
 13 when awarding certain funding; amending s. 201.15, 
 14 F.S.; requiring that a certain sum be paid to the 
 15 credit of the State Transportation Trust Fund for the 
 16 exclusive use of the Florida Arterial Road 
 17 Modernization Program; amending s. 202.18, F.S.; 
 18 redirecting the transfer of certain communication 
 19 services tax proceeds; amending s. 212.20, F.S.; 
 20 revising the distribution of sales and use tax revenue 
 21 to include a transfer to fiscally constrained 
 22 counties; amending s. 215.971, F.S.; providing 
 23 construction regarding agreements funded with federal 
 24 or state assistance; requiring a state agency to 
 25 expedite payment requests from a county, municipality, 
 26 or rural area of opportunity for a specified purpose; 
 27 requiring each state agency to report to the Office of 
 28 Rural Prosperity by a certain date with a summary of 
 29 certain information; requiring the office to summarize 
 30 the information it receives for its annual report; 
 31 amending s. 218.67, F.S.; revising the conditions 
 32 required for a county to be considered a fiscally 
 33 constrained county; authorizing eligible counties to 
 34 receive a distribution of sales and use tax revenue; 
 35 revising the sources that the Department of Revenue 
 36 must use to determine the amount distributed to 
 37 fiscally constrained counties; revising the factors 
 38 for allocation of the distribution of revenue to 
 39 fiscally constrained counties; requiring that the 
 40 computation and amount distributed be calculated using 
 41 certain methods; authorizing specified uses for the 
 42 revenue; conforming a cross-reference; amending s. 
 43 288.001, F.S.; requiring the Florida Small Business 
 44 Development Center Network to use certain funds 
 45 appropriated for a specified purpose; authorizing the 
 46 network to dedicate funds to facilitate certain 
 47 events; amending s. 288.007, F.S.; revising which 
 48 local governments and economic development 
 49 organizations seeking to recruit businesses are 
 50 required to submit a specified report; creating s. 
 51 288.013, F.S.; providing legislative findings; 
 52 creating the Office of Rural Prosperity within the 
 53 Department of Commerce; requiring the Governor to 
 54 appoint a director, subject to confirmation by the 
 55 Senate; providing that the director reports to and 
 56 serves at the pleasure of the secretary of the 
 57 department; providing the duties of the office; 
 58 requiring the office to establish by a specified date 
 59 a certain number of regional rural community liaison 
 60 centers across this state for a specified purpose; 
 61 providing the powers, duties, and functions of the 
 62 liaison centers; requiring each regional rural 
 63 community liaison center, to the extent possible, to 
 64 coordinate with certain entities; requiring the 
 65 liaison centers to engage with the Rural Economic 
 66 Development Initiative (REDI); requiring at least one 
 67 staff member of a liaison center to attend the monthly 
 68 REDI meetings in person or by means of electronic 
 69 communication; requiring the director of the office to 
 70 submit an annual report to the Administration 
 71 Commission within the Executive Office of the 
 72 Governor; specifying requirements for the annual 
 73 report; requiring that the annual report also be 
 74 submitted to the Legislature by a specified date and 
 75 published on the office’s website; requiring the 
 76 director of the office to attend the next 
 77 A