Florida Senate - 2014 CS for SB 244
By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Braynon
596-03276-14 2014244c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to specialty license plates; amending
3 s. 320.08056, F.S.; authorizing the collection of
4 annual use fees for the Sun, Sea, and Smiles license
5 plate; limiting the authorized uses of collected
6 annual use fees; defining a term; amending s.
7 320.08058, F.S.; creating a Sun, Sea, and Smiles
8 license plate; providing for the distribution of use
9 fees received from the sale of such plates; amending
10 s. 320.08062, F.S.; revising provisions relating to
11 audit and attestation requirements for annual use fee
12 proceeds; requiring the Department of Highway Safety
13 and Motor Vehicles to discontinue the distribution of
14 revenues to an organization that does not meet
15 specified requirements; authorizing the department to
16 resume the distribution of revenue under certain
17 conditions; requiring a report to the Legislature;
18 requiring the discontinuance of a specialty plate
19 under certain circumstances; amending chapter 2008
20 176, Laws of Florida, as amended; extending the
21 prohibition on the issuance of new specialty license
22 plates; providing an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Paragraph (eeee) is added to subsection (4) of
27 section 320.08056, Florida Statutes, and subsection (10) of that
28 section is amended, to read:
29 320.08056 Specialty license plates.—
30 (4) The following license plate annual use fees shall be
31 collected for the appropriate specialty license plates:
32 (eeee) Sun, Sea, and Smiles license plate, $25.
33 (10)(a) A specialty license plate annual use fee collected
34 and distributed under this chapter, or any interest earned from
35 those fees, may be used in this state only for purposes
36 authorized by this chapter and may not be used for commercial or
37 for-profit activities nor for general or administrative
38 expenses, except as authorized by s. 320.08058 or to pay the
39 cost of the audit or report required by s. 320.08062(1).
40 (b) As used in this subsection, the term “administrative
41 expenses” means those expenditures that are considered direct
42 operating costs of the organization. These expenses include, but
43 are not limited to, the following:
44 1. Administrative salaries of employees and officers of the
45 organization who do not, or cannot prove, via detailed daily
46 time sheets, that they actively participate in program
47 activities;
48 2. Bookkeeping and support services of the organization;
49 3. Office supplies and equipment not directly used for the
50 specified program;
51 4. Travel time, per diem, mileage reimbursement, and
52 lodging expenses not directly associated with a specified
53 program purpose;
54 5. Paper, printing, envelopes, and postage not directly
55 associated with a specified program purpose; or
56 6. Miscellaneous expenses such as food, beverage,
57 entertainment, and conventions.
58 Section 2. Subsection (83) is added to section 320.08058,
59 Florida Statutes, to read:
60 320.08058 Specialty license plates.—
61 (83) SUN, SEA, AND SMILES LICENSE PLATES.—
62 (a) Notwithstanding s. 45, chapter 2008-176, Laws of
63 Florida, as amended by s. 21, chapter 2010-223, Laws of Florida,
64 and s. 320.08053(1), the department shall develop a Sun, Sea,
65 and Smiles license plate as provided in this section. Sun, Sea,
66 and Smiles license plates must bear the colors and design
67 approved by the department. The word “Florida” must appear at
68 the top of the plate, and the words “Sun-Sea-Smiles” must appear
69 at the bottom of the plate.
70 (b) The department shall retain all annual use fees from
71 the sale of such plates until all startup costs for developing
72 and issuing the plates have been recovered. Thereafter, the
73 license plate annual use fees shall be distributed as follows:
74 1. Five percent shall be distributed to Florida Caribbean
75 Charitable Foundation, Inc., for the sole purpose of marketing
76 the Sun, Sea, and Smiles license plate.
77 2. Thirty percent shall be distributed to Florida Caribbean
78 Charitable Foundation, Inc. Of this amount, up to 5 percent may
79 be used for administrative expenses, and the remainder shall be
80 used as follows:
81 a. Sixty percent shall be used for a college scholarship
82 program.
83 b. Fifteen percent shall be used to promote health and
84 wellness among residents of this state of Caribbean descent.
85 c. Twenty-five percent shall be used to promote awareness
86 of Caribbean culture within the state.
87 3. Twenty percent shall be distributed to the American
88 Friends of Jamaica, Inc., a New York-based charitable, not-for
89 profit organization under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
90 Code, to be used solely to fund grants to promote social and
91 community development among residents of this state. Of this
92 amount, up to 5 percent may be used for administrative and
93 marketing expenses.
94 4. Ten percent shall be distributed to the Sant La Haitian
95 Neighborhood Center to promote social and community development.
96 Of this amount, up to 5 percent may be used for administrative
97 expenses.
98 5. Ten percent shall be distributed to Fanm Ayisyen Nan
99 Miyami, Inc., to promote social and community development. Of
100 this amount, up to 5 percent may be used for administrative
101 expenses.
102 6. Twenty percent shall be distributed to Greater Caribbean
103 American Cultural Coalition, Inc., to promote awareness of
104 Caribbean culture within the state. Of this amount, up to 5
105 percent may be used for administrative expenses.
106 7. Five percent shall be distributed to Little Haiti
107 Optimist Foundation, Inc., to promote awareness of Caribbean
108 culture and youth development within the state. Of this amount,
109 up to 5 percent may be used for administrative expenses.
110 Section 3. Section 320.08062, Florida Statutes, is amended
111 to read:
112 320.08062 Audits and attestations required; annual use fees
113 of specialty license plates.—
114 (1)(a) All organizations that receive annual use fee
115 proceeds from the department are responsible for ensuring that
116 proceeds are used in accordance with ss. 320.08056 and
117 320.08058.
118 (b) Any organization not subject to audit pursuant to s.
119 215.97 shall annually attest, under penalties of perjury, that
120 such proceeds were used in compliance with ss. 320.08056 and
121 320.08058. The attestation shall be made annually in a form and
122 format determined by the department.
123 (c) Any organization subject to audit pursuant to s. 215.97
124 shall submit an audit report in accordance with rules
125 promulgated by the Auditor General. The annual attestation shall
126 be submitted to the department for review within 9 months after
127 the end of the organization’s fiscal year.
128 (2)(a) Within 120 90 days after receiving an organization’s
129 audit or attestation, the department shall determine which
130 recipients of revenues from specialty license plate annual use
131 fees have not complied with subsection (1). In determining
132 compliance, the department shall commission an independent
133 actuarial consultant, or an independent certified public
134 accountant, who has expertise in nonprofit and charitable
135 organizations.
136 (a) The department must discontinue the distribution of
137 revenues to an organization that fails to submit the
138 documentation required in subsection (1), but may resume
139 distribution of the revenues upon receipt of the required
140 documentation.
141 (b) If the department or its designee determines that an
142 organization has not complied or has failed to use the revenues
143 in accordance with ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058, the department
144 must discontinue the distribution of the revenues to the
145 organization. The department must notify the organization of its
146 findings and direct the organization to make the changes
147 necessary in order to comply with this chapter. If the officers
148 of the organization sign under penalties of perjury that they
149 acknowledge the findings of the department and attest that they
150 have taken corrective action and attest that the organization
151 will submit to a follow-up review by the department, the
152 department may resume the distribution of revenues until the
153 department determines that the organization has complied.
154 (c) If an organization fails to comply with the
155 department’s directive requiring corrective actions as outlined
156 in paragraph (b), the revenue distributions must be discontinued
157 until completion of the next regular session of the Legislature.
158 The department must notify the Legislature by the first day of
159 the regular session of an organization whose revenues have been
160 withheld pursuant to this paragraph. If the Legislature does not
161 provide direction to the organization and the department
162 regarding the status of the undistributed revenues, the
163 department shall discontinue the plate, and undistributed
164 revenues must within 12 months after the annual use fee proceeds
165 are withheld by the department, the proceeds shall be
166 immediately deposited into the Highway Safety Operating Trust
167 Fund to offset department costs related to the issuance of
168 specialty license plates.
169 (b) In lieu of discontinuing revenue disbursement pursuant
170 to this subsection, upon determining that a recipient has not
171 complied or has failed to use the revenues in accordance with
172 ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058, and with the approval of the
173 Legislative Budget Commission, the department is authorized to
174 redirect previously collected and future revenues to an
175 organization that is able to perform the same or similar
176 purposes as the original recipient.
177 (3) The department or its designee has the authority to
178 examine all records pertaining to the use of funds from the sale
179 of specialty license plates.
180 Section 4. Section 45 of chapter 2008-176, Laws of Florida,
181 as amended by section 21 of chapter 2010-223, Laws of Florida,
182 is amended to read:
183 Section 5. Except for a specialty license plate proposal
184 which has submitted a letter of intent to the Department of
185 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles before prior to May 2, 2008,
186 and which has submitted a valid survey, marketing strategy, and
187 application fee as required by s. 320.08053, Florida Statutes,
188 before October 1, 2008 prior to the effective date of this act,
189 or which was included in a bill filed during the 2008
190 Legislative Session, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
191 Vehicles may not issue any new specialty license plates pursuant
192 to ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058, Florida Statutes, between July
193 1, 2008, and July 1, 2016 2011.
194 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.