Miami-Dade’s top economic engine could get a fast-tracked makeover, courtesy of a no-bid deal with its tenants.

County Commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution by Danielle Cohen Higgins and Kevin Marino Cabrera authorizing a no-bid deal with concessionaires at Miami International Airport (MIA).

The deal, which requires two-thirds approval from the dais, would keep the existing restaurants and retailers at the hub for 12 years, with one three-year renewal option. In exchange, they would agree to yearly rent increases, among other things, and invest up to $332 million to renovate their spaces.

Concessionaires that opt into the three-year renewal would have to commit to “approximately an additional $65 million of investment,” MIA Director Ralph Cutié said, adding that Miami-Dade altogether would see “almost $1.1 billion” in revenue from the deal.

Other aspects of the agreement would see concessionaires pay 0.5% of their gross revenues to cover a customer experience fee MIA would use to improve areas adjacent to their spaces; a 0.5% marketing fee to pay for advertising and a new secret shopper program; and a 0.25% infrastructure repair and maintenance fee restaurants that use grease traps would have to pay.

Two-thirds of the $332 million would cover improvements to the spaces, Cutié said, with most of the remainder going toward upgrading equipment.

“One of the most important things that the item does is it resets the ratio of food and beverage to retail, which currently is at 46% food and beverage and about 54% retail. The industry-recognized optimum standard is … about 65% (to) 35%,” he said. “As part of this agreement, the … concessionaires will turn that ratio to the more optimum 65%, 35% … food and beverage to retail.”

The deal comes amid a confluence of headwinds for Miami-Dade. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has called for spending cuts as pandemic funds dry out. At the same time, the county is investing $9 billion to improve and expand MIA after years of criticism about its dilapidated escalators, walkways and long-out-of-commission Skytrain.

Cohen Higgins told Florida Politics that while some concessionaires aren’t fully onboard with the deal, “the vast majority” are. She said taking a “piecemeal approach” of negotiating with each of the businesses and outside companies hoping to replace them would delay the much-needed improvements and limit the plan’s impact.

“These businesses are doing well, knock on wood,” she said. “We want to incentivize a full-spectrum renovation.”

Cabrera, who is likely to soon leave County Hall for a job as U.S. Ambassador to Panama, said the no-bid deal also makes sense because the concessionaires the county has contracts with now are doing good jobs.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said. “If we were (to) go out to bid … I think it would take another decade … because we know what happens. It gets slowed down. People are going to do bid protests and we’ll be here forever and ever before we actually get there.”

He said that the deal includes safeguards that weren’t there in past contracts, including a provision allowing for a tenant to be evicted if they violate parts of the agreement.

Commissioners will also consider a separate but related resolution soliciting bids for concessionaires interested in filling 10 vacant spaces in MIA’s North Terminal, out of which American Airlines operates. The item also seeks competitive procurement for tenants for the Central Terminal and the hub’s to-be-built Terminal K.

Cohen Higgins pointed to that separate resolution in response to concerns Commissioner Keon Hardemon raised during a March 12 committee meeting about how the larger no-bid deal denies Black-owned businesses an opportunity to compete.

Hardemon noted that it’s been nearly 20 years since the county held an airport-wide round of competitive bidding for concessionaire spaces and that contract extensions for them are traditionally for four years.

“There’s no way that we should let this moment pass without doing something more significant for the people that we believe should be there,” he said. “In order for us to move forward with this significant of a step, there’s some unbundling that needs to be done.”

Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, the immediate past Chair of the County Commission, said he was sympathetic to Hardemon’s concern and appreciated Cabrera’s sentiment about not fixing unbroken things.

“But ‘broke’ and ‘fix’ is relative to your position,” he said. “For people who don’t necessarily have the opportunity, they would think, ‘Yeah, someone else is doing well there, but I could do well there (too).’”

MIA has nearly 280,000 square feet of concession space across its North, Central and South terminals. The airport’s website says its concession tenants “are selected through a competitive selection process.”

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One lawmaker’s proposal to study how schools can ban cell phones during the school day cleared the first committee stop Monday.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican, would create a pilot program to help the state understand how best to eradicate cell phones from schools.

“We all know that cell phones are a distraction, that they take us away from the academics of school,” Burgess said as the Education Pre K-12 Committee voted 9-0 for SB 1296.

He compared cell phones to an addictive drug for kids.

In 2023, the Legislature passed a law requiring school districts to prohibit cell phone usage during instructional time in the classroom. But Burgess’ bill aims to take it further and explore how to ban phones during the entire school day, including on school grounds and during school-sponsored activities off school property but still during the school day. The report would also explore how the policy affects students’ behavior and academics.

Under his bill, six school districts — two small ones, two medium-sized ones and two large ones — would be part of a pilot program to report back to the Senate President and House Speaker by Dec. 1, 2026 about the situation. Burgess’ bill does not specify which school districts would participate.

“Hopefully we’re approaching this right by making sure that we’re surveying districts that may already have this implemented and then getting that feedback and determining if there’s a better, more comprehensive approach from that,” Burgess said.

Some of the questions lawmakers want to understand are the exceptions to a full ban, such as how do the schools allow phones for native English speakers to access curriculum or when students ride the school buses and during emergencies when parents need to reach their kids.

“The report must also include a model policy that school districts and charter schools may adopt,” the bill said. “The report must also include student code of conduct provisions for violations of the policy restricting the use of cell phones and other electronic devices.”

Burgess cited a National Library of Medicine study that found students who used phones in class took fewer notes and got worse grades compared to students who put their phones away.

His bill is headed next for the Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee.

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A bill to boost housing access for young adults who have spent time in the foster care system was unanimously advanced by the Senate Education Postsecondary Committee Monday,

Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia presented the measure (SB 584) and started by explaining an amendment that was adopted that removed certain requirements found in the original bill, with Garcia saying the change emphasizes coordination rather than providing guarantees.

“Specifically, it removes the requirement for state agencies to act as co-signers or guarantors on residential leases for foster youth currently not under the voucher program,” Garcia said. “However, it does preserve the core provisions that support the federal Youth to Independence, the FYI program. Agencies are still required to coordinate with local housing authorities, identify eligible youth, and certify their child welfare history and also provide and secure supportive services for the duration of the housing voucher.”

The bill would support the FYI program by mandating a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fully implement it in Florida.

Boynton Beach Democratic Sen. Lori Berman asked why the bill was being amended, noting that she liked that youth were getting so much financial support. In response, Garcia said it was the fiscal impact that forced her to remove it from the original bill, but pointed out it was regrettable that it wasn’t able to be left in.

“The fiscal impact,” Garcia said. “The fiscal impact was going to be huge, and we wanted to make sure that we can take care of the ones that are currently under that program.”

Garcia said she was inspired by the youth that she has worked with during her time as a state senator, and noted the bill is one of many that works towards helping them succeed.

“You know, housing, we take it so for granted, sometimes we take our parents for granted,” Garcia said. “This is another wonderful bill of the many that we have run, that we continue to work on. All of us together, bipartisan, which is what I love to do.”

Garcia said that the bill would make housing a priority for vulnerable students by requiring Florida College System Institutions and state universities to give first priority and housing and work-study opportunities to students who are homeless or formally in the foster care system who are having difficulty aging out.

Schools would also be prohibited from requiring a co-signer or guarantor when vulnerable students receive housing assistance through state programs.

“I think that it’s very important that it expands all throughout Florida,” Garcia said. “Also, this ensures that young people aging out of foster care receive properly coordinated housing support.”

The bill further requires a state-wide study, directing the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct a comprehensive study on the barriers young adults face when trying to secure housing. The study must involve key stakeholders and be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2026.

The measure will now move to the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee.

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