On June 27th, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law that gives counties, municipalities, school boards and other political subdivisions in the state authority to enter into public-private partnership (P3) agreements for facilities that "serve a public purpose."

The bill - HB 85 - authorizes P3s for a wide range of facilities, including education facilities, transportation facilities, water & wastewater facilities, roads, highways and bridges, healthcare facilities and sporting or cultural facilities.

The new P3 law will go into effect on July 1, 2013 and builds on Florida's success in using P3s for transportation projects such as the Port of Miami Tunnel and the I-595 Corridor Roadway Improvements Projects.

The law also still establishes a task force to create guidelines for P3 creation. The task force must submit its recommendations to the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives by July 1, 2014.The new piece of legislation discusses public private cooperation in the construction of county roads and includes public-private partnerships to entities that can contract with a not-for-profit organization or charitable youth organization for public service work.  The bill does not cover the Florida Department of Transportation or other Florida state agencies.The Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate had passed in late May House Bill 85 regarding Public Private Partnerships.See HB 85 law.