Board of County Commissioners Sponsors Hurricane Legislation

The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners continues to work on a number of legislative steps to expand protective measures and mitigate the loss of lives and damage to property due to a hurricane. 

Our steadfast efforts with state and federal governments, in concert with the Miami-Dade Emergency Management Office, seek to provide:

• The continuation and expansion of the hurricane sales tax holiday.
• Matching funds to the Partnership for Recovery Inc. to provide roof repairs to homes of low-income residents that still have FEMA-issued blue roofs as a result of Hurricane Wilma.
• Directing the County manager to research grants and programs for funds to support the creation of permanent disaster points of distribution strategically located throughout Miami-Dade County to provide supplies to senior citizens and indigent families.
• Urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation addressing national catastrophe insurance by establishing a federal reinsurance catastrophic fund.
• Urging the Florida Legislature and the Florida Public Service Commission to facilitate the expeditious conversion of overhead electric distribution facilities to underground facilities and encouraging the Florida Public Service Commission to reflect benefits of conversion in utility tariffs.
• Directing the County manager to develop, implement and promote a Hurricane Ready decal program to provide businesses with decals that will notify the public that a business will be ready to re-open promptly after a hurricane, thus making it easier for the public to find needed supplies after a storm.

As Chairman and Commissioner for District 5, I will continue to work hard with my colleagues at the Board of County Commissioners to ensure the needs of all residents are addressed after a major disaster. The goal of the resolutions we sponsor seek to provide the bare essentials, which our residents need so that they can get their lives back in order after a major emergency.

Most recently, the County highlighted its role as a national model for emergency preparedness during the annual meeting of the Large Urban County Caucus conference in May. One piece of legislation requests that the federal government develop a national special needs registry similar to Miami-Dade's People with Special Needs registry, to identify vulnerable residents in disaster-prone areas who require immediate assistance. An additional piece of legislation asks the federal government to give Miami-Dade access to federal contracts for goods and services in order to reduce procurement costs.

Chairman, Bruno A. Barreiro