Government Relations

Local

• We supported Collier County’s decision to allocate $15 million of the sales surtax revenue collected to acquire or construct a career and technical education facility.
• We support educational programs that encourage work-based learning opportunities, including mentorships, career shadowing and internships.

State

• We supported fully funding workforce education programs provided by the state technical college system, including Lorenzo Walker Technical College (LWTC) and Immokalee Technical College (iTech.)

• We support legislation that expands, encourages, and incentivizes work-based learning opportunities, including career and technical training, internships and apprenticeships, and post-secondary education.

Local

• We support Collier County’s decision to allocate $20 million of the sales surtax revenue to acquire and support construction of affordable workforce housing.
• We support the developing policies, including changes to zoning and growth management plans, that incentivize the development of affordable workforce housing for rent or purchase.
• We support the Sadowski Coalition and Sadowski Affiliates’ promise to use all of Florida’s Sadowski housing trust fund monies for Florida’s SHIP and SAIL programs. And support funding for housing programs or projects outside SHIP or SAIL which are designed to help address the housing needs in Collier County residents.

State

• We support the passing of Senate Bill 102- Live Local Act which earmarks $711million to several programs designed to increase affordable housing for middle-income earners so they can live in the communities where they work.

Read more about Housing in Collier County

• We support expanding access to high-quality, affordable child care options in Southwest Florida and across the state.
• We support initiatives that incentivize child care providers to offer infant care and non-traditional hours to better serve Florida workforce.
• We support initiatives that encourage, promote and incentivize at-home providers to become registered child care providers.

Local

• We support Collier County’s decision to allocate $25 million in local option sales surtax revenue to construct a mental and behavioral health central receiving center on the campus of the David Lawrence Center.
• We support mental and behavioral health priorities identified in Collier County’s mental health strategic plan and by the Collier Coalition for Healthy Minds.

State

• We support legislative action that eliminate barriers to access mental and behavioral health services, including eliminating the prior authorization requirement and codifying COVID-19 related emergency orders that allow for the expanded use of telehealth, including for behavioral health, in Florida.
• We support initiatives that incentivize behavioral health clinicians to adopt electronic health records to facilitate intra-agency data sharing, data collection and outcome reporting.
• We support integrated care models that focus on prevention and early detection, thus decreasing future healthcare costs to employers and the government.
• We support expanded Medicaid coverage to allow for additional, supplemental payments to providers to treat behavioral health patients.
• We support local appropriations requests to support the development and operations of a mental and behavioral health central receiving center to support the needs of Collier and Lee counties.

• We support Collier County’s request to build a 120-bed state veterans’ nursing home on county-owned property, and to contribute $30 million in local option sales surtax revenue for construction costs.
• We support the Board of County Commissioners’ unanimous decision to set aside an additional $10 million of surtax revenue for the construction of additional square footage to provide adult day care and outpatient therapy.
• We support Collier County’s request to the state legislature to earmark $10 million in the 2024 session to help cover the cost of the additional square footage needed.
• We support Collier County’s request for $14 million in operational and maintenance costs for the first two years of operations, until the facility is census is at or near capacity.
  .

• We support consistent sustained funding levels to accomplish the Everglades Agricultural Area projects and objective of sending clean water South as quickly as possible, including implementation of critical infrastructures projects north and south of Lake Okeechobee.
• We support legislative actions implementing the Blue-Green Algae Task Force recommendations that aim to reduce nutrient pollution from all sources, in order to protect the public, businesses and the environment from harmful algal blooms.
• We support strengthening stormwater standards for urban landscape (statewide stormwater rule update and ratification) and agricultural runoff, particularly for nutrient pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus that feeds harmful algal blooms.
• We support funding for and plans to upgrade and build advanced wastewater treatment to reduce nutrients in reuse/reclaimed irrigation water with monitoring of nutrient concentrations.
• We support the establishment of statewide septic tank inspection and maintenance requirements. We also support legislative action that incentivizes the use of public and private funds to upgrade septic systems or convert septic to sewer.
• We support local appropriations requests that address aging infrastructure, improve local and regional water quality, and benefit the local and regional communities.