Results

As the nation’s third-largest state and one surrounded by water on three sides, Florida has experienced its share of natural and man-made disasters. This session, the Florida Legislature made great strides to build on last session’s work to protect residents, communities and institutions against future threats to Floridians’ way of life.

In the 2021 Legislative Session, Chip sponsored legislation on Resiliency. This year, HB 7053 builds on last year’s “Always Ready” plan by establishing the Statewide Office of Resilience in the Governor’s Office and directing state highway officials to identify roads subject to flooding and create an action plan by June 30, 2023. We must be prepared and plan for the future.

Chip has a record of fighting for Floridians to keep taxes low, so our state remains a great place to live, work, and start a business. As a matter of fact, since serving in local office and now in the state legislature, Chip has never voted to increase taxes…ever.

In the 2021 Legislative Session, Chip sponsored legislation to streamline online sales taxes that allowed Florida to cut the unemployment tax by over 700% and also cut the Local Business Tax by 275%.

In the 2022 Legislative Session, Chip introduced bills to create sales tax holidays for back-to-school, outdoor recreation, disaster preparedness expenses, as well as tax-free products for your home to protect from hurricanes and disasters.

Since serving as a County Commissioner, Chip has always worked to make access to voting easy and convenient in Florida, but most importantly secure.

This session, Chip was proud to support HB 7061, which strengthens election security by creating the Office of Election Crimes and Security. Additionally, the bill provides for sworn-FDLE officers to investigate election crimes and increases criminal penalties for crimes such as illegal ballot harvesting and petition circulating.

Having come through a pandemic, we know that Florida must be prepared for threats posed by any emergency and act quickly to mitigate negative effects. SB 96 & SB 98 (HB 7023 & HB 7025) create the Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Fund for the Governor to use exclusively during emergencies.

This ensures that funding for disaster relief or response comes first from state and local agency funds, then from the EPR Fund if demands on those funds are too great. It also allows the Governor to request additional funds from the Legislative Budget Commission, if necessary.

Chip led the charge to support Florida’s student athletes. His bill (HB 7051) Intercollegiate Athlete Compensation and Rights ended an unjust restriction to the free market and authorized collegiate athletes to earn compensation for the use of their name, image, or likeness (NIL).

This bill was the first in the country to have an early implementation date. It also forced the NCAA and NAIA to change their rules and award NIL rights to student-athletes nationwide.

State Representative Chip LaMarca stood up to the establishment to combat rising prices and affordability concerns. To keep our economy growing, it’s important that our teachers, first responders, veterans, and frontline workers can afford to live in South Florida.

This past legislative session, Chip proudly passed Florida’s Hometown Heroes Housing Assistance program, which provided $12 million in down payment assistance to law enforcement officers, educators, healthcare professionals, and active military or veterans in purchasing their first home in Florida.

Additionally, In 2022, Chip secured an individual grant to provide $500,000 in housing assistance for Broward Partnership for the Homeless.

State Representative Chip LaMarca was honored to work with Stand with Parkland to improve school safety. In 2021, Chip LaMarca sponsored a landmark school safety bill in collaboration with Tony Montalto, father of Gina Montalto, who was tragically killed at MSD.

The School Safety legislation:

• Required data analysis to review incidents in our schools
• Provided penalties for failures to fortify schools
• Re-authorized the MSD Public Safety Commission
• Provided requirements for Codes of Student Conduct
• Required timely notification of incidents to parents and guardians
• Established training requirements for Safe School Officers
• Outlined requirements for mental health assistance funding