Senate Bill 0272
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
By Senator Forman
32-317-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to serving people who have
3 disabilities; creating s. 14.275, F.S.;
4 creating the Office of Disability Coordination
5 within the Executive Office of the Governor;
6 providing for an advisory board; providing for
7 a working group; establishing terms of office
8 and officers; providing for staff; allowing the
9 executive director to employ consultants and
10 enter into contracts; providing for rules,
11 rights, and benefits applicable to office
12 staff; providing duties of the office;
13 requiring entities serving people who have
14 disabilities to give the office access to
15 certain data; requiring the office to make
16 certain data available to interested parties;
17 requiring the office to produce an annual
18 report and transmit it to the Executive Office
19 of the Governor, to legislative leaders, and to
20 entities that deal with people who have
21 disabilities; requiring a review and a report;
22 providing appropriations; providing an
23 effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Section 14.275, Florida Statutes, is
28 created to read:
29 14.275 Office of Disability Coordination.--
30 (1) There is created within the Executive Office of
31 the Governor the Office of Disability Coordination.
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
32-317-00
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;
11 9. Secretary of Health;
12 10. Secretary of Transportation; and
13 11. Executive Director of the Occupational Access and
14 Opportunity Commission.
15 (b) Each member of the advisory board shall appoint
16 members of his or her staff to act as a working group for the
17 advisory board. The working group shall meet at least monthly
18 and comply with paragraphs (c) through (g), with the exception
19 of the requirements pertaining to the number of meetings.
20 (c) Each member of the advisory board shall perform
21 the duties of a member of the advisory board as additional
22 duties required of that member in his or her other official
23 capacity.
24 (d) The term of office of each advisory member
25 corresponds to the respective member's period of service in
26 his or her official capacity.
27 (e) The members of the advisory board shall elect a
28 chairperson and a vice-chairperson from the membership of the
29 advisory board. The chairperson and vice-chairperson shall be
30 elected to serve 1-year term and may be reelected.
31
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
32-317-00
1 (f) A majority of the advisory board constitutes a
2 quorum for the conduct of business. The advisory board shall
3 meet at least four times a year, and the chairperson may call
4 meetings as often as necessary to transact business or as
5 directed by the advisory board.
6 (g) If a member of the advisory board ceases to be an
7 officer of the agency that he or she represents, the member
8 must resign immediately from the advisory board, and the
9 resulting vacancy must be filled by the deputy or the newly
10 appointed head of the agency.
11 (h)1. The advisory board shall employ and set the
12 compensation for an executive director. The executive director
13 shall employ and set the compensation for a person who has
14 expertise in information management systems who shall serve at
15 the pleasure of the board. The executive director may employ
16 and set the compensation of additional professional,
17 technical, legal, or clerical staff as needed. With the
18 consent of the advisory board, the executive director may
19 employ consultants and enter into contracts on behalf of the
20 advisory board.
21 2. The Office of the Governor shall provide staff,
22 which may come from the agencies represented on the advisory
23 board, to provide support and services to the Office of
24 Disability Coordination full-time or part-time, to the extent
25 required by the advisory board.
26 3. The staff of the office shall be governed by the
27 same rules as are legislative personnel and shall receive the
28 same rights and benefits, including membership in the Florida
29 Retirement System. The office shall make employer
30 contributions for this purpose.
31
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
32-317-00
1 4. The Office of Legislative Services shall assist the
2 office in obtaining office space and equipment for office
3 staff.
4 (2) The Office of Disability Coordination shall work
5 with all entities that deal with people who have disabilities,
6 who have physical or mental impairments that substantially
7 limit one or more major life activities, who have a record of
8 such impairments, or who are regarded as having such
9 impairments to:
10 (a) Collect and provide information concerning
11 individuals who are being served and those who are on waiting
12 lists for services and information concerning the demographics
13 of state residents who have disabilities;
14 (b) Streamline intake for clients;
15 (c) Consolidate, coordinate, and reduce regulatory
16 functions;
17 (d) Eliminate duplications in service;
18 (e) Maximize federal funding;
19 (f) Collect and disseminate information relating to
20 budget items that are requested by the entities on behalf of
21 people who have disabilities;
22 (g) Coordinate outcomes and accountability measures;
23 (h) Coordinate the implementation of state and federal
24 policies;
25 (i) Serve as a clearinghouse for legislative requests
26 for funding and proposed policy changes;
27 (j) Periodically convene agencies that serve people
28 who have disabilities, for the purpose of reviewing the
29 agencies' missions, services, activities, and funding
30 capabilities;
31
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
32-317-00
1 (k) Encourage research on the effectiveness of
2 programs and propose pilot projects aimed at improving the
3 services of all member agencies;
4 (l) Identify areas in which needed services are not
5 being provided; and
6 (m) Identify groups of people who have disabilities
7 and are not being served or are not being served adequately.
8 (3)(a) The Office of Disability Coordination shall
9 develop and maintain a continuing program of information
10 management, the purpose of which is to compile, maintain, and
11 disseminate information concerning met and unmet needs of,
12 providers of services to, and costs and availability of
13 services for, people who have disabilities.
14 (b) All entities that serve people who have
15 disabilities must give direct access to all of the data they
16 maintain on people who have disabilities to the Office of
17 Disability Coordination by January 1, 2001. The Office of
18 Disability Coordination should not maintain or duplicate data
19 currently maintained by any other entity.
20 (c) The Office of Disability Coordination shall make
21 the information collected under paragraph (b) available to
22 interested parties.
23 (d) The Office of Disability Coordination must not
24 make public any otherwise confidential information that could
25 identify an individual. The office shall assure that the
26 purpose of obtaining information is to evaluate and improve
27 programs in all areas which serve people who have
28 disabilities.
29 (e) The Office of Disability Coordination may notify
30 the Governor and the Legislature of any agency's noncompliance
31 with its duties under this section. The Governor may
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
32-317-00
1 disqualify or suspend a noncompliant agency's ability to
2 receive grants, awards, or funding.
3 (4)(a) By December 1, 2001, and thereafter by December
4 1 of each year, the Office of Disability Coordination shall
5 produce a report that documents the progress made in the
6 activities described in subsection (2). Each advisory board
7 member shall provide information for the report which relates
8 to his or her agency. The report must also describe the
9 barriers that prevent full collaboration among entities that
10 serve people who have disabilities. Recommendations as to what
11 measures are needed to achieve full coordination of services
12 to people who have disabilities, as well as recommendations
13 concerning how to better serve such people, must be included
14 in the report. Copies of the report must be transmitted
15 electronically or in writing to the Executive Office of the
16 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
17 House of Representatives, as well as to other interested
18 parties upon request.
19 (b) Before the 2002 Regular Session of the
20 Legislature, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
21 Governmental Accountability shall conduct a review of, and
22 prepare a report on, the Office of Disability Coordination.
23 The review must be comprehensive and, at a minimum, must
24 specifically determine:
25 1. The progress made toward achieving the established
26 outcomes;
27 2. The circumstances contributing to the Office of
28 Disability Coordination's ability to achieve, not to achieve,
29 or to exceed its established outcomes; and
30
31
6
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 272
32-317-00
1 3. Whether it would be sound public policy to continue
2 or discontinue the Office of Disability Coordination, and the
3 consequences of discontinuation.
4 Section 2. There is appropriated from the General
5 Revenue Fund to the Executive Office of the Governor for
6 fiscal year 2000-2001:
7 (1) The sum of $250,000, to be used for startup
8 expenses of the Office of Disability Coordination, including,
9 but not limited to, the cost of hardware, software, and office
10 equipment.
11 (2) The sum of $350,000, to be used for the operating
12 costs of the Office of Disability Coordination, including, but
13 not limited to, salaries, benefits, and travel expenses.
14 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
15
16 *****************************************
17 SENATE SUMMARY
18 Creates the Office of Disability Coordination within the
Executive Office of the Governor. Provides for an
19 advisory board. Provides for a working group. Establishes
terms of office and officers. Provides for staff,
20 including an executive director, an expert in information
management, and additional staff as needed. Allows the
21 executive director to employ consultants and enter into
contracts. Provides for rules, rights, and benefits
22 applicable to the office staff. Provides duties of the
office. Requires entities serving people who have
23 disabilities to give the office access to certain data.
Requires the office to make certain data available to
24 interested parties. Requires the office to produce an
annual report and transmit it to the Executive Office of
25 the Governor, to legislative leaders, and to entities
that deal with people who have disabilities.
26
27
28
29
30
31
7