Senate Bill 1484c2
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for CS for SB 1484
By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Productivity;
Commerce and Economic Opportunities; and Senator Geller
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to workforce development
3 education in information technologies; creating
4 s. 239.521, F.S.; providing intent; providing
5 for development of a 2-year vocational and
6 technical distance-learning curriculum for
7 information-technology workers; providing for
8 internship opportunities for high school and
9 postsecondary information-technology vocational
10 faculty and students in information-technology
11 businesses; providing a means for increasing
12 the capability and accessibility of
13 information-technology-training providers
14 through state-of-the-art facilities; amending
15 s. 240.311, F.S.; requiring the State Board of
16 Community Colleges to identify training
17 programs for broadband-digital-media
18 specialists; requiring that such programs be
19 added to lists for demand occupations under
20 certain circumstances; amending s. 240.3341,
21 F.S.; encouraging community colleges to
22 establish incubator facilities for
23 digital-media-content-and-technology
24 development; creating s. 240.710, F.S.;
25 requiring the Board of Regents to create a
26 Digital-Media-Education Coordination Group;
27 providing membership; providing purposes;
28 requiring development of a plan; requiring
29 submission of plans to the Legislature;
30 requiring the Workforce Development Board to
31 reserve funds for digital-media-industry
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1 training; providing direction on training;
2 requiring the Workforce Development Board to
3 develop a plan for the use of certain funds to
4 enhance workforce of a digital-media-related
5 industries; providing direction concerning plan
6 development; creating the
7 Digital-Media-Education-Infrastructure Fund
8 within the Office of Tourism, Trade, and
9 Economic Development for the purpose of
10 upgrading quality of media labs; providing an
11 appropriation; providing requirements for
12 contracting and use of funds; requiring
13 Enterprise Florida, Inc., to convene a
14 broadband-digital-media-industries group;
15 requiring identification, designation, and
16 priority of a digital-media sector in sector
17 strategy; requiring Enterprise Florida, Inc.,
18 to contract for establishment of a
19 digital-media incubator; providing contract
20 requirements; providing an appropriation;
21 requiring industry participation in funding;
22 providing direction for incubator location;
23 requiring ITFlorida, in cooperation with
24 Enterprise Florida, Inc., to prepare a
25 marketing plan promoting the state to
26 digital-media industries; providing an
27 effective date.
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29 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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1 Section 1. Section 239.521, Florida Statutes, is
2 created to read:
3 239.521 Information-technology workforce-development
4 projects.--The Legislature recognizes that
5 information-technology industries are adding substantial
6 numbers of high-paying, high-technology jobs in the state. The
7 Legislature also recognizes the important contribution of this
8 industry as one of the targeted industries vital to the
9 state's current and future economic growth. The Legislature
10 further recognizes that information-technology industries are
11 in need of a highly skilled workforce to meet the growing
12 demands of the industry as well as to address the needs of
13 additional information-technology companies relocating to the
14 state. The Information Technology Development Task Force,
15 appointed by the 1999 Florida Legislature for the study of key
16 issues in the development of the state's economy, recommended
17 several means for further supporting this valued industry.
18 Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that the
19 following initiatives be funded to support the workforce needs
20 of this growing industry consistent with recognized needs of
21 the state.
22 (1) COMPREHENSIVE DISTANCE-LEARNING CURRICULUM
23 INITIATIVES.--
24 (a) The Legislature recognizes that there are multiple
25 levels of employee competencies embedded within the various
26 information-technology-industry jobs. Using these competencies
27 as the basis of a curriculum for training incumbent workers to
28 develop additional skills and potential workers to develop
29 entry-level skills, the Legislature intends that a
30 comprehensive vocational-certificate or 2-year
31 distance-learning curriculum be developed.
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1 (b) The comprehensive distance-learning initiative
2 involves the State Technology Office and the State Board of
3 Community Colleges acting through the Florida Community
4 College Distance Learning Consortium to ensure that the
5 curriculum is up-to-date, responsive to industry's changing
6 needs, and delivered in the most cost-effective manner
7 possible. The development of the distance-learning curriculum
8 for statewide dissemination is to be co-built by industry
9 content experts and educational providers. The process should
10 coordinate the existing efforts of individual institutions and
11 consortiums into a combined, comprehensive, and cohesive
12 methodology for providing training through the use of
13 technology and should involve:
14 1. A statewide review of existing distance-learning
15 courses;
16 2. Evaluation and purchase of appropriate
17 off-the-shelf products to be licensed for use on a statewide
18 basis; and
19 3. Development of missing competency training using
20 multi-media methodologies.
21 (c) The comprehensive distance-learning curriculum
22 developed under this subsection will be by one or more
23 institutions or consortiums. Participation in this project
24 will be competitively based and approved by the State Board of
25 Community Colleges based upon recommendations of the Florida
26 Community College Distance Learning Consortium. Participants
27 must meet the following criteria:
28 1. Experience in providing training for
29 information-technology companies.
30 2. Availability of technical infrastructure to support
31 this project.
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1 3. Endorsement from information-technology
2 economic-development agencies and local information-technology
3 business commitments to be actively involved.
4 4. Demonstrated multi-media course and program
5 development capabilities.
6 5. Existing consortium efforts.
7 6. Availability of local support.
8 (d) The Legislature may annually appropriate $2
9 million in the General Appropriations Act to support efforts
10 initiated in accordance with this subsection. These funds must
11 be used to support, among others, salaries, licensing
12 commercial courseware, purchasing existing courseware and
13 equipment, and related course-development expenses.
14 (2) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
15 FOR FACULTY AND STUDENTS.--
16 (a) The Legislature recognizes that the preparedness
17 of both high school and postsecondary education students
18 emerging from an educational experience ready to enter the
19 information-technology workplace is dependent upon the quality
20 of instruction provided by faculty and information-technology
21 business interaction with their program of study. The
22 Legislature further recognizes that faculty at high school and
23 postsecondary school levels are better able to integrate
24 technology and current business standards into the curriculum
25 if they can verify from personal experience and knowledge the
26 importance of these for students' future success. Faculty also
27 require the ability to continuously update their knowledge and
28 skills as technology changes, and faculty will be able to
29 increase their skills and knowledge from structured internship
30 opportunities within information-technology businesses.
31 Further, students gain increased knowledge and skills from
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1 on-the-job training and direct work experience in a structured
2 internship opportunity. The Legislature, therefore, creates
3 the Information Technology Internship Program to encourage and
4 support information-technology-program faculty and student
5 internships with direct exposure to information-technology
6 industries. The Legislature further intends that the program
7 will provide a minimum of 200 faculty and 200 student
8 internships at various locations across the state.
9 (b) Local faculty and student internship initiatives
10 will be selected to be part of this project by the State
11 Technology Office, based on the following criteria:
12 1. Information-technology businesses providing faculty
13 and student internships will pay 50 percent of the salary for
14 each intern as well as provide workers' compensation benefits.
15 2. Economic-development agencies such as chambers of
16 commerce, economic-development commissions, or regional
17 consortia will be eligible to apply and serve as a local
18 fiscal agent for the program.
19 3. Establishment of qualifying criteria and process
20 for matching faculty and students with business-internship
21 opportunities.
22 4. Priority will be given to existing local efforts
23 that have proven successful and can be duplicated statewide.
24 5. Projects may be combined with federal tax-relief
25 efforts encouraging educational internship programs.
26 (c) Salaries and other conditions of work shall be set
27 by the Commissioner of Education, the Executive Director of
28 the Florida Community College System, and the Chancellor of
29 the State University System.
30 (d) The Division of Workforce Development of the
31 Department of Education shall assume administrative
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1 responsibility and act as fiscal agent for the
2 information-technology internships.
3 (e) The Legislature may annually appropriate $2
4 million in the General Appropriations Act to fund programs
5 established under this subsection on a statewide basis.
6 (3) INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY-TRAINING
7 FACILITY-IMPROVEMENT-STRATEGY INITIATIVES.--
8 (a) The Legislature recognizes that
9 information-technology businesses need increased numbers of
10 highly skilled workers. The shortage of a qualified labor
11 force has become a barrier to this dynamic industry's
12 continued growth in the state. The limited numbers of highly
13 skilled incumbent workers constantly need to update skills in
14 response to the evolving technologies and in order to move to
15 higher-paid positions within the industry. These incumbent
16 workers require a continuous work-and-learn cycle to maintain
17 their knowledge of new technologies and tools. Businesses
18 demand cutting-edge training opportunities for their employees
19 in order to meet the constantly changing globally competitive
20 marketplace. The Legislature recognizes that increased
21 accessibility and quality facilities are required to address
22 the increasing efforts of educational institutions to respond
23 to information-technology businesses and that
24 information-technology-training providers are expected to have
25 appropriate facilities to address the needs of this dynamic
26 industry. The Legislature further recognizes that additional
27 high-tech labs are required to provide the training for
28 computer-systems engineers, software developers, and related
29 cutting-edge job types. These labs are more expensive than
30 regular facilities because of the additional infrastructure
31 and continuous turnover of equipment in response to changes in
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1 global technology. Therefore, it is the intent of the
2 Legislature to provide a process and funding for appropriate
3 and needed information-technology-training-facility upgrades.
4 (b) The State Board of Community Colleges will
5 administer funds appropriated under paragraph (c) for
6 distribution on a competitive basis by October 1 of each year
7 to support approved projects. Projects may address upgrading
8 current facilities, planning new facilities, and combining the
9 efforts of institutions to serve the information-technology
10 business sector through state-of-the-art training facilities
11 designated to address the multi-media needs of this industry.
12 The projects would be competitively selected based on the
13 following criteria:
14 1. A concentration of information-technology
15 industries and workers in the service area.
16 2. Other local funding initiatives or federal funding
17 of an equal value to the state funds requested. These funds
18 must demonstrate a synergistic effort to support
19 information-technology industries.
20 3. Priority may be given to projects, including
21 partnership effort between two or more educational
22 institutions, so that a broader range of educational services
23 may be provided for information-technology industries.
24 4. Priorities may be given to projects that include
25 partnerships with a local municipality, county, or
26 economic-development agency as a way of demonstrating a
27 synergy of efforts to support this industry.
28 (c) The Legislature may annually appropriate $2
29 million in the General Appropriations Act to fund two or more
30 projects approved under this subsection.
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1 Section 2. Present subsections (4) through (8) of
2 section 240.311, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
3 subsections (5) through (9), respectively, and a new
4 subsection (4) is added to that section to read:
5 240.311 State Board of Community Colleges; powers and
6 duties.--
7 (4) The State Board of Community Colleges shall
8 identify, using the Critical Jobs Initiative, the
9 occupational-forecasting process, or any other compatible
10 mechanism, a collection of programs designed to train
11 broadband-digital-media specialists. Programs identified by
12 the board shall be added to the statewide lists for demand
13 occupations if they meet the high-skill/high-wage criteria as
14 established by the Workforce Estimating Conference created
15 under s. 216.136(10).
16 Section 3. Subsection (5) is added to section
17 240.3341, Florida Statutes, to read:
18 240.3341 Incubator facilities for small business
19 concerns.--
20 (5) Community colleges are encouraged to establish
21 incubator facilities through which emerging small businesses
22 supportive of the development of content and technology for
23 digital-broadband-media and digital broadcasting may be
24 served.
25 Section 4. Section 240.710, Florida Statutes, is
26 created to read:
27 240.710 Digital-Media-Education Coordination Group.--
28 (1) The Board of Regents shall create a
29 Digital-Media-Education Coordination Group composed of
30 representatives of the universities within the State
31 University System which shall work in conjunction with the
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1 State Board of Community Colleges and the Articulation
2 Coordinating Committee on the development of a plan to enhance
3 Florida's ability to meet the current and future workforce
4 needs of the digital media industry. The following purposes
5 of the group shall be included in its plan-development
6 process:
7 (a) Coordination of the use of existing academic
8 programs, research, and faculty resources to promote the
9 development of a digital-media industry in Florida;
10 (b) Addressing strategies to improve opportunities for
11 interdisciplinary study and research within the emerging field
12 of digital media through the development of tracks in existing
13 degree programs, new interdisciplinary degree programs, and
14 interdisciplinary research centers; and
15 (c) Addressing the sharing of resources among
16 universities in such a way as to allow a student to take
17 courses from multiple departments or multiple educational
18 institutions in pursuit of competency, certification, and
19 degrees in digital information and media technology.
20 (2) Where practical, private accredited institutions
21 of higher learning in Florida should be encouraged to
22 participate.
23 (3) In addition to the elements of the plan governed
24 by the purposes described in subsection (1), the plan shall
25 include, to the maximum extent practicable, the coordination
26 of educational resources to be provided by distance learning
27 and shall facilitate, to the maximum extent possible,
28 articulation and transfer of credits between community
29 colleges and the state universities. The plan must address
30 student enrollment in affected programs, with emphasis on
31 enrollment beginning as early as the Fall Term in 2001.
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1 (4) The Digital-Media-Education Coordination Group
2 shall submit its plan to the President of the Senate and the
3 Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1, 2001.
4 Section 5. The Workforce Development Board of
5 Enterprise Florida, Inc., should reserve up to $1 million of
6 funds dedicated in Fiscal Year 2000-2001 for Incumbent Worker
7 Training for the digital-media industry. Training may be
8 provided by public or private training providers for
9 broadband-digital-media jobs listed on the Occupational
10 Forecast List developed by the Workforce Estimating Conference
11 or the Targeted Occupations List of the Workforce Development
12 Board. Programs that operate outside the normal semester time
13 periods and coordinate the use of industry and public
14 resources should be given priority status for such reserved
15 funds.
16 Section 6. The Workforce Development Board of
17 Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall by August 31, 2000, develop a
18 plan for the use of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
19 funds, Workforce Investment Act funds, Quick Response funds,
20 Incumbent Worker Training funds, and other training-related
21 resources to enhance the workforce of digital-media-related
22 industries. The plan must provide the industries with a
23 program for training and assessing the status of industry
24 workforce readiness for the digital era, which should be done
25 in conjunction with the broadcast and cable industries.
26 Section 7. There is created in the Office of Tourism,
27 Trade, and Economic Development within the Executive Office of
28 the Governor a Digital-Media-Education-Infrastructure Fund for
29 the purpose of upgrading the quality of media labs associated
30 with university programs, community college programs, and
31 other educational resources in order to assist in meeting
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1 current and future workforce training needs for the
2 digital-media industry. There is appropriated to the fund
3 from the General Revenue Fund $1 million for fiscal year
4 2000-2001, to be used for those purposes. The Office of
5 Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development shall be responsible
6 for contracting with eligible entities for receipt of funds.
7 Such funds must be spent according to the priorities
8 established by the industry sector group on broadband
9 digital-media established by Enterprise Florida, Inc., and
10 must be matched by industry contributions.
11 Section 8. Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall convene an
12 organizational meeting for industries involved in broadband
13 digital-media to organize and facilitate future activities of
14 associated industry groups or facilitate the ongoing
15 activities of a similar group. Enterprise Florida, Inc.,
16 shall make all necessary preparations to identify and
17 designate a digital-media sector as part of its sector
18 strategy and identify the sector as a priority
19 recruitment/retention set of industries.
20 Section 9. (1) Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall award
21 a contract for the establishment of a digital-media incubator
22 to encourage companies developing content and technology for
23 digital broadband media and digital broadcasting to locate and
24 develop their businesses in Florida. Qualifications of an
25 applicant for a contract as a digital-media incubator shall at
26 a minimum include the following:
27 (a) Demonstrated expertise in developing content and
28 technology for digital broadband media and digital
29 broadcasting;
30 (b) Demonstrated ability in venture capital
31 fund-raising;
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1 (c) Demonstrated expertise in the development of
2 digital media businesses; and
3 (d) Demonstrated ability in coordinating public and
4 private educational institutions and business entities in
5 digital-technology joint-business ventures. The awarding of
6 the contract must follow the procedures outlined in chapter
7 287, Florida Statutes.
8 (2) There is appropriated the sum of $2 million from
9 the General Revenue Fund to Enterprise Florida, Inc., for the
10 purpose of providing operational and investment seed funding
11 to encourage the financial and strategic participation of
12 venture-capital firms, corporate and institutional sponsors,
13 and targeted start-up companies in the establishment of the
14 digital incubator. Initial state investment in the incubator
15 must be matched with contributions from the industry with
16 participating industry partners, including, but not limited
17 to, venture capitalists, digital-media manufacturers, and
18 digital-media-content providers.
19 (3) Maximized leveraging of funds must be a priority
20 consideration in the location of the digital-media incubator.
21 Consideration must be given to collocation of the incubator
22 with an existing state-of-the-art media lab or an upgraded or
23 newly created media lab funded through the
24 Digital-Media-Education-Infrastructure Fund in the Office of
25 Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development.
26 Section 10. ITFlorida, in consultation with Enterprise
27 Florida, Inc., shall develop a marketing plan to promote the
28 state as digital-media-friendly, as a digital-media-ready
29 environment, and as a national leader in the development and
30 distribution of broadband-digital-media content, technology,
31 and education. The marketing plan must identify critical
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1 roles for various public and private partners and establish a
2 marketing timeline and goals. The plan must be completed by
3 December 31, 2000.
4 Section 11. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
5 law.
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7 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
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10 The Committee Substitute removes the fixed stipends and salary
points for faculty interships from the bill and provides that
11 they will be set by the Commissioner, Chancellor, and the
State Board of Community Colleges. Specific reference is also
12 provided to the State Technology Office.
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