The Florida Special Legislative Session has come to a close and Gov. Rick Scott has signed the final 2015 state budget to fund affordable housing programs at $175 million. Although many state projects were cut form the final budget, Sadowski funds have remained intact.  Here is a breakdown of the funding.

• SAIL (apartment programs) funded at $70 million.
• SHIP (single family home programs) will be funded at $101 million.
• Homelessness programs funded at $4 million

This is a huge victory for FAA, as nearly all housing funds had been earmarked for Everglades restoration and other environmental programs. As part of the Sadowski Coalition, FAA was able to increase the amount of funds going to apartment programs by nearly $3 million over 2014 funding amounts. Thank you for your support in responding to our calls for action, giving to APAC, and attending legislative days. Your combined efforts have resulted in several legislative victories for FAA in 2015! 

 

In addition to increasing apartment funding by $3 million, FAA has secured other cost-saving legislative victories in 2015 for our industry.

• With the passage of SB 656, members can save $198 in court filing fees per eviction to remove a transient occupant from their community.
• With the defeat of SB 504, members can save an annual $250 playground inspection fee per on-site playground. 
• With the passage of HB 071, owners can more easily identify a false service animal and have it removed from the property.

All of these victories are made possible through the support of APAC. Together we can hit our 2015 APAC goal of $139,000 (which includes $99,000 from affiliate dues and contributions and $40,000 for conference related fundraising)! So far $46,211 has been raised and we would like to recognize the progress of each of our affiliates: 

 

Affilate	Total Goal	Total Raised	% to Goal
AAGO	$23,850.00	$10,850.00	45.49%
BAAA	$21,850.00	$5,438.00	24.89%
BCMHA	$1,150.00	$1,250.00	108.70%
CCAA	$3,000.00	$474.00	15.80%
ECAA	$3,025.00	$549.00	18.15%
FCAA	$16,925.00	$8,917.00	52.69%
NCAA	$3,650.00	$3,784.85	103.69%
SCAA	$2,900.00	$1,377.00	47.48%
SEFAA	$16,875.00	$8,990.00	53.27%
SWFAA	$2,925.00	$400.00	13.68%
TCAA	$2,525.00	$1,677.40	66.43%
Non Affiliated		$2,504.00
State Total	$98,675.00	$46,211.25	46.83%