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THE BILL ITSELF

SB 446

Large-scale County Destination Marketing Organizations

VERSION S 446 Filed · BACK TO THE SUMMARY · OFFICIAL RECORD

underlined language is being added; struck language is being deleted. Line numbers are the Legislature's own — the same ones amendments cite.

Florida Senate - 2026 SB 446 By Senator Smith 17-00069-26 2026446__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to large-scale county destination
3 marketing organizations; creating s. 288.12267, F.S.;
4 defining the term “large-scale county destination
5 marketing organization”; requiring large-scale county
6 destination marketing organizations to register with
7 the Department of State; requiring the department to
8 maintain a list of large-scale county destination
9 marketing organizations on its website; requiring a
10 one-to-one match of private to public contributions to
11 fund large-scale county destination marketing
12 organizations; providing sources and exclusions of
13 public and private contribution funding; requiring a
14 large-scale county destination marketing organization
15 to revert all unmatched public contributions to the
16 corresponding counties or municipalities with which
17 the large-scale county destination marketing
18 organization is contracted by a certain date each
19 year; providing an effective date.
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
23 Section 1. Section 288.12267, Florida Statutes, is created
24 to read:
25 288.12267 Large-scale county destination marketing
26 organizations.—
27 (1) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the term
28 “large-scale county destination marketing organization” has the
29 same meaning as the term “county destination marketing
30 organization” as defined in s. 288.005, but refers only to such
31 organizations or agencies with an annual operating budget of $5
32 million or more.
33 (2) REGISTRATION.—A large-scale county destination
34 marketing organization must register with the Department of
35 State, and the department shall maintain a directory on its
36 website of all large-scale county destination marketing
37 organizations operating in this state.
38 (3) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—A one-to-one match is required
39 of private to public contributions to a large-scale county
40 destination marketing organization. Public contributions include
41 all state and local appropriations to a large-scale county
42 destination marketing organization.
43 (a) For purposes of calculating the required one-to-one
44 match, a large-scale county destination marketing organization
45 shall receive matching private contributions in one of four
46 private match categories. The large-scale county destination
47 marketing organization shall maintain documentation of such
48 categorized contributions on file and make such documentation
49 available for inspection upon reasonable notice during its
50 regular business hours. The private match categories are:
51 1. Direct cash contributions from private sources, which
52 include, but are not limited to, cash derived from strategic
53 alliances, contributions of stocks and bonds, and partnership
54 contributions.
55 2. Fees for services, which include, but are not limited
56 to, event participation, research, and brochure placement.
57 3. Cooperative advertising, which is limited to partner
58 expenditures for paid media placement, partner expenditures for
59 collateral material distribution, and the actual market value of
60 contributed productions, broadcast air time, and print space.
61 4. In-kind contributions, which are limited to the actual
62 market value of promotional contributions of partner-supplied
63 benefits to target audiences and the actual market value of
64 nonpartner-supplied air time or print space contributed for the
65 broadcasting or printing of such promotions that would otherwise
66 require tourist promotion expenditures by a large-scale county
67 destination marketing organization for advertising, air travel,
68 rental car fees, hotel rooms, RV or campsite space rental,
69 onsite guest services, and admission tickets. The net value of
70 air time or print space, if any, is deemed to be the actual
71 market value of the air time or print space, based on an average
72 of actual unit prices paid contemporaneously for comparable
73 times or spaces, less the value of increased ratings or other
74 benefits realized by the media outlet as a result of the
75 promotion.
77 Contributions from a governmental entity or from an entity that
78 received more than 50 percent of its revenue in the previous
79 fiscal year from public sources, including revenue derived from
80 taxes, from fees, or from other government revenues, are not
81 considered private contributions for purposes of calculating the
82 required one-to-one match.
83 (b) If a large-scale county destination marketing
84 organization fails to meet the one-to-one match requirements of
85 this subsection, the large-scale county destination marketing
86 organization must, by June 30 of each fiscal year, revert all
87 unmatched public contributions to the treasuries of the
88 corresponding counties or municipalities with which the large
89 scale county destination marketing organization is contracted.
90 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.