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House Bill 1631

Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 1631 By Representative Ball 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to Challenger license plates; 3 amending s. 320.08085, F.S.; providing for the 4 distribution of funds to the Astronauts 5 Memorial Foundation, Inc., and the 6 Technological Research and Development 7 Authority; providing for the use of funds; 8 imposing additional fees on certain purchases 9 of license plates; providing an effective date. 10 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12 13 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 320.08058, 14 Florida Statutes, 1996 Supplement, is amended to read: 15 320.08058 Specialty license plates.-- 16 (2) CHALLENGER LICENSE PLATES.-- 17 (a) The department shall develop a Challenger license 18 plate to commemorate the seven astronauts who died when the 19 space shuttle Challenger exploded on liftoff in 1986. The word 20 "Florida" shall appear at the top of the plate, and the word 21 "Challenger" must appear at the bottom of the plate, both 22 words in small letters. 23 (b)1. 24 a. Fifty percent of the Challenger license plate 25 annual use fee must be distributed to the Astronauts Memorial 26 Foundation, Inc., to support the operations of deposited into 27 the Center for Space Education and the Education Technology 28 Institute. Funds received by the Astronauts Memorial 29 Foundation, Inc., may be used for administrative costs 30 directly associated with the operation of the center and the 31 institute. Trust Fund within the Department of Education. 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 1631 561-127A-97 1 These funds must be used solely for the design, construction, 2 maintenance, and support of the operations of the Center for 3 Space Education and the Education Technology Institute 4 operated by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Inc. These 5 operations must include preservice and inservice training in 6 the use of technology for the state's instructional personnel 7 in a manner consistent with state training programs and 8 approved by the Department of Education. Up to 20 percent of 9 funds received by the Center for Space Education from the 10 Center for Space Education Trust Fund may be expended for 11 administrative costs directly associated with the operation of 12 the center. 13 b. Upon approval of the Department of Education, funds 14 must be transferred from the Center for Space Education Trust 15 Fund to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Inc., solely to 16 design, construct, maintain, and support the operations of the 17 Center for Space Education and the Education Technology 18 Institute. A request for the transfer of funds must include 19 information relating to specific plans for disbursing the 20 funds. Before expending funds from their account, the 21 Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Inc., must request approval 22 from the Department of Education, as if the funds were in the 23 Department of Education's trust fund. 24 2. Subparagraph 1. is repealed July 1, 1997. After 25 the date of repeal, the funds distributed pursuant to 26 subparagraph 1. shall be distributed to the Challenger 27 Astronauts Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship Trust Fund 28 created in s. 240.408. 29 3. Twenty-five percent of the Challenger license plate 30 annual use fee must be distributed to the Challenger 31 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 1631 561-127A-97 1 Astronauts Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship Trust Fund, for 2 use as provided by s. 240.408. 3 (c) Fifty 4. The remaining 25 percent must be 4 distributed to the Technological Research and Development 5 Authority created by s. 2, chapter 87-455, Laws of Florida, 6 for the purpose of funding space-related space research 7 grants, the Teacher/Quest Scholarship Program under s. 8 240.4082 as approved by the Florida Department of Education, 9 and space-related economic development programs. The 10 Technological Research and Development Authority shall 11 coordinate and distribute available resources among state 12 universities and independent colleges and universities, 13 community colleges, public school districts, and 14 not-for-profit educational organizations based on the research 15 strengths of such institutions in space science technology. 16 (d) Up to 10 percent of the funds distributed under 17 paragraphs (b) and (c) may be used for continuing promotion 18 and marketing of the license plate. 19 (e) A person that purchases 1,000 or more Challenger 20 license plates shall pay an annual use fee of $10 per plate 21 and an annual processing fee of $2 per plate, in addition to 22 the applicable license tax required under s. 320.08. 23 (f)5. The Auditor General has the authority to examine 24 any and all records pertaining to the Astronauts Memorial 25 Foundation, Inc., and the Technological Research and 26 Development Authority to determine compliance with the law. 27 (g) This subsection expires July 1, 2001. 28 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1997. 29 30 31 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 1631 561-127A-97 1 ***************************************** 2 SENATE SUMMARY 3 Redistributes the funds derived from the Challenger license plates to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, 4 Inc., and the Technological Research and Development Authority and provides for the use of the funds. Imposes 5 additional fees on the purchase of large amounts of license plates. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 4