Senate Bill 1900
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1900
By Senator Forman
32-736C-99
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to serving people who have
3 disabilities; creating the Office of Disability
4 Coordination within the Executive Office of the
5 Governor; providing for an advisory board;
6 providing for a working group; establishing
7 terms of office and officers; providing for
8 staff; allowing the executive director to
9 employ consultants and enter into contracts;
10 providing for rules, rights, and benefits
11 applicable to office staff; providing duties of
12 the office; requiring entities serving people
13 who have disabilities to give the office access
14 to certain data; requiring the office to make
15 certain data available to interested parties;
16 requiring the office to produce an annual
17 report and transmit it to the Executive Office
18 of the Governor, to legislative leaders, and to
19 entities that deal with people who have
20 disabilities; requiring a review and a report;
21 providing appropriations; providing an
22 effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Section 14.275, Florida Statutes, is
27 created to read:
28 14.275 Office of Disability Coordination.--
29 (1) There is created within the Executive Office of
30 the Governor the Office of Disability Coordination.
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1900
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1 (a) The office shall have an advisory board that
2 includes the:
3 1. Commissioner of Education;
4 2. Secretary of Children and Family Services;
5 3. Secretary of Juvenile Justice;
6 4. Secretary of Labor and Employment Security;
7 5. Director of Health Care Administration;
8 6. Secretary of Corrections;
9 7. Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
10 8. Secretary of Elderly Affairs; and
11 9. Secretary of Health.
12 (b) Each member of the advisory board shall appoint
13 members of his or her staff to act as a working group for the
14 advisory board. The working group shall meet at least monthly
15 and comply with paragraphs (c) through (g), with the exception
16 of the requirements pertaining to the number of meetings.
17 (c) Each member of the advisory board shall perform
18 the duties of a member of the advisory board as additional
19 duties required of that member in his or her other official
20 capacity.
21 (d) The term of office of each advisory member
22 corresponds to the respective member's period of service in
23 his or her official capacity.
24 (e) The members of the advisory board shall elect a
25 chairperson and a vice-chairperson from the membership of the
26 advisory board. The chairperson and vice-chairperson shall be
27 elected to serve 1-year term and may be reelected.
28 (f) A majority of the advisory board constitutes a
29 quorum for the conduct of business. The advisory board shall
30 meet at least four times a year, and the chairperson may call
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1900
32-736C-99
1 meetings as often as necessary to transact business or as
2 directed by the advisory board.
3 (g) If a member of the advisory board ceases to be an
4 officer of the agency that he or she represents, the member
5 must resign immediately from the advisory board, and the
6 resulting vacancy must be filled by the deputy or the newly
7 appointed head of the agency.
8 (h)1. The advisory board shall employ and set the
9 compensation for an executive director. The executive director
10 shall employ and set the compensation for a person who has
11 expertise in information management systems who shall serve at
12 the pleasure of the board. The executive director may employ
13 and set the compensation of additional professional,
14 technical, legal, or clerical staff as needed. With the
15 consent of the advisory board, the executive director may
16 employ consultants and enter into contracts on behalf of the
17 advisory board.
18 2. The Office of the Governor shall provide staff,
19 which may come from the agencies represented on the advisory
20 board, to provide support and services to the Office of
21 Disability Coordination full-time or part-time, to the extent
22 required by the advisory board.
23 3. The staff of the office shall be governed by the
24 same rules as are legislative personnel and shall receive the
25 same rights and benefits, including membership in the Florida
26 Retirement System. The office shall make employer
27 contributions for this purpose.
28 4. The Office of Legislative Services shall assist the
29 office in obtaining office space and equipment for office
30 staff.
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1900
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1 (2) The Office of Disability Coordination shall work
2 with all entities that deal with people who have disabilities,
3 who have physical or mental impairments that substantially
4 limit one or more major life activities, who have a record of
5 such impairments, or who are regarded as having such
6 impairments to:
7 (a) Collect and provide information concerning
8 individuals who are being served and those who are on waiting
9 lists for services and information concerning the demographics
10 of state residents who have disabilities;
11 (b) Streamline intake for clients;
12 (c) Consolidate, coordinate, and reduce regulatory
13 functions;
14 (d) Eliminate duplications in service;
15 (e) Maximize federal funding;
16 (f) Collect and disseminate information relating to
17 budget items that are requested by the entities on behalf of
18 people who have disabilities;
19 (g) Coordinate outcomes and accountability measures;
20 (h) Coordinate the implementation of state and federal
21 policies;
22 (i) Serve as a clearinghouse for legislative requests
23 for funding and proposed policy changes;
24 (j) Periodically convene agencies that serve people
25 who have disabilities, for the purpose of reviewing the
26 agencies' missions, services, activities, and funding
27 capabilities;
28 (k) Encourage research on the effectiveness of
29 programs and propose pilot projects aimed at improving the
30 services of all member agencies;
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1 (l) Identify areas in which needed services are not
2 being provided; and
3 (m) Identify groups of people who have disabilities
4 and are not being served or are not being served adequately.
5 (3)(a) The Office of Disability Coordination shall
6 develop and maintain a continuing program of information
7 management, the purpose of which is to compile, maintain, and
8 disseminate information concerning met and unmet needs of,
9 providers of services to, and costs and availability of
10 services for, people who have disabilities.
11 (b) All entities that serve people who have
12 disabilities must give direct access to all of the data they
13 maintain on people who have disabilities to the Office of
14 Disability Coordination by October 1, 1999. The Office of
15 Disability Coordination should not maintain or duplicate data
16 currently maintained by any other entity.
17 (c) The Office of Disability Coordination shall make
18 the information collected under paragraph (b) available to
19 interested parties.
20 (d) The Office of Disability Coordination must not
21 make public any otherwise confidential information that could
22 identify an individual. The office shall assure that the
23 purpose of obtaining information is to evaluate and improve
24 programs in all areas which serve people who have
25 disabilities.
26 (e) The Office of Disability Coordination may notify
27 the Governor and the Legislature of any agency's noncompliance
28 with its duties under this section. The Governor may
29 disqualify or suspend a noncompliant agency's ability to
30 receive grants, awards, or funding.
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1 (4)(a) By December 1, 2000, and thereafter by December
2 1 of each year, the Office of Disability Coordination shall
3 produce a report that documents the progress made in the
4 activities described in subsection (2). Each advisory board
5 member shall provide information for the report which relates
6 to his or her agency. The report must also describe the
7 barriers that prevent full collaboration among entities that
8 serve people who have disabilities. Recommendations as to what
9 measures are needed to achieve full coordination of services
10 to people who have disabilities, as well as recommendations
11 concerning how to better serve such people, must be included
12 in the report. Copies of the report must be transmitted
13 electronically or in writing to the Executive Office of the
14 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
15 House of Representatives, as well as to other interested
16 parties upon request.
17 (b) Before the 2001 Regular Session of the
18 Legislature, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
19 Governmental Accountability shall conduct a review of, and
20 prepare a report on, the Office of Disability Coordination.
21 The review must be comprehensive and, at a minimum, must
22 specifically determine:
23 1. The progress made toward achieving the established
24 outcomes;
25 2. The circumstances contributing to the Office of
26 Disability Coordination's ability to achieve, not to achieve,
27 or to exceed its established outcomes; and
28 3. Whether it would be sound public policy to continue
29 or discontinue the Office of Disability Coordination, and the
30 consequences of discontinuation.
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1900
32-736C-99
1 Section 2. There is appropriated from the General
2 Revenue Fund to the Executive Office of the Governor for
3 fiscal year 1999-2000:
4 (a) The sum of $250,000, to be used for startup
5 expenses of the Office of Disability Coordination, including,
6 but not limited to, the cost of hardware, software, and office
7 equipment.
8 (b) The sum of $350,000, to be used for the operating
9 costs of the Office of Disability Coordination, including, but
10 not limited to, salaries, benefits, and travel expenses.
11 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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14 SENATE SUMMARY
15 Creates the Office of Disability Coordination within the
Executive Office of the Governor. Provides for an
16 advisory board. Provides for a working group. Establishes
terms of office and officers. Provides for staff,
17 including an executive director, an expert in information
management, and additional staff as needed. Allows the
18 executive director to employ consultants and enter into
contracts. Provides for rules, rights, and benefits
19 applicable to the office staff. Provides duties of the
office. Requires entities serving people who have
20 disabilities to give the office access to certain data.
Requires the office to make certain data available to
21 interested parties. Requires the office to produce an
annual report and transmit it to the Executive Office of
22 the Governor, to legislative leaders, and to entities
that deal with people who have disabilities.
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