Senate Bill 0406c2
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for CS for SB 406
By the Committees on Commerce and Economic Opportunities;
Comprehensive Planning, Local and Military Affairs; and
Senators Hargrett, Latvala, Holzendorf, Childers, Laurent and
Meek
310-1957-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to community development;
3 creating the Community and Faith-based
4 Organizations initiative within the Institute
5 on Urban Policy and Commerce at Florida
6 Agricultural and Mechanical University;
7 providing for the initiative to promote
8 community development through partnerships with
9 community and faith-based organizations;
10 specifying the activities to be conducted by
11 the initiative; providing for financial
12 assistance to community and faith-based
13 organizations; requiring the development of
14 grant-selection criteria; requiring leveraging
15 of funds; creating the Community and Library
16 Technology Access Partnership; specifying the
17 activities to be conducted by the partnership;
18 requiring the Institute on Urban Policy and
19 Commerce at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
20 University to administer the initiative and the
21 Division of Library and Information Services of
22 the Department of State to administer the
23 Community and Library Technology Access
24 Partnership; authorizing certain activities and
25 uses of funds; providing appropriations;
26 creating a community computer-access grant
27 program, to be known as the Community
28 High-Technology Investment Partnership, or
29 "CHIP," program; providing legislative intent;
30 providing purposes of the program; providing
31 for grants to be awarded to eligible
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for CS for SB 406
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1 neighborhood facilities; providing for the
2 Division of Libraries and Information Services
3 of the Department of State to administer the
4 grant program; providing requirements for grant
5 applications; prescribing the maximum amount of
6 a grant; requiring a grant agreement between
7 the division and the recipient facility;
8 providing for establishing minimum
9 specifications of computers purchased under the
10 program; providing for an evaluation and a
11 report; providing an appropriation; providing
12 an effective date.
13
14 WHEREAS, many community and faith-based organizations
15 are providing a new focus on economic uplift in Florida's poor
16 and most vulnerable neighborhoods, and
17 WHEREAS, these nonprofit organizations have local
18 experts who serve in leadership roles by assisting individuals
19 to move from dependency to self-sufficiency and restoring the
20 lives of residents in Florida's most distressed communities,
21 and
22 WHEREAS, crime, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy,
23 homelessness, and juvenile delinquency, the most notable
24 indicators of a distressed community, are being addressed by
25 small, and sometimes unrecognized, community and faith-based
26 organizations, and
27 WHEREAS, the leadership and expertise of these
28 organizations should not be ignored, and
29 WHEREAS, a recognized effort to empower community and
30 faith-based organizations, encourage community revitalization,
31 and implement educational reform will assist those who reside
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for CS for SB 406
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1 in inner cities and distressed rural communities to gain their
2 share of the state's resources, and
3 WHEREAS, residents of low income communities lack
4 access to technology, the internet, and computer literacy
5 needed to succeed in Florida's emerging information based
6 economy, and
7 WHEREAS, Florida public libraries eligible for e-rate
8 discounts have the capacity to partner effectively with
9 community and faith-based organizations and agencies to
10 provide technology access and training to assist in closing
11 the digital divide, NOW, THEREFORE,
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Community and Faith-based Organizations
16 Initiative; Community and Library Technology Access
17 Partnership.--
18 (1) CREATION.--There is created the Community and
19 Faith-based Organizations Initiative which shall be
20 administered by the Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce at
21 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and the
22 Community and Library Technology Access Partnership which
23 shall be administered by the Division of Library and
24 Information Services of the Department of State.
25 (2) INTENT.--The purpose of the initiative is to
26 promote community development in low-income communities
27 through partnerships with not-for-profit community and
28 faith-based organizations. The purpose of the partnership is
29 to encourage public libraries eligible for e-rate discounted
30 telecommunications services to partner with community and
31 faith-based organizations to provide technology access and
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1 training to assist other state efforts to close the digital
2 divide.
3 (3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.--
4 (a) Authorized activities of the initiative.--The
5 Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce at Florida Agricultural
6 and Mechanical University may conduct the following activities
7 as part of the Community and Faith-based Organizations
8 Initiative:
9 1. Create and operate training programs to enhance the
10 professional skills of individuals in community and
11 faith-based organizations.
12 2. Create and operate a program to select and place
13 students and recent graduates from business and related
14 professional schools as interns with community and faith-based
15 organizations for a period not to exceed 1 year, and provide
16 stipends for such interns.
17 3. Organize an annual conference for community and
18 faith-based organizations to discuss and share information on
19 best practices regarding issues relevant to the creation,
20 operation, and sustainability of these organizations.
21 4. Provide funding for the development of materials
22 for courses on topics in the area of community development,
23 and for research on economic, operational, and policy issues
24 relating to community development.
25 5. Provide financial assistance to community and
26 faith-based organizations through small grants for
27 partnerships with universities and the operation of programs
28 to build strong communities and future community development
29 leaders. The Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce at Florida
30 Agricultural and Mechanical University shall develop selection
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for CS for SB 406
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1 criteria for awarding such grants which are based on the goals
2 of the initiative.
3
4 The institute, to the maximum extent possible, shall leverage
5 state funding for the initiative with any federal funding that
6 the institute may receive to support similar community-based
7 activities.
8 (b) Authorized activities of the partnership.--The
9 Division of Library and Information Services of the Department
10 of State may conduct the following activities as part of the
11 Community and Library Technology Access Partnership:
12 1. Provide funding for e-rate eligible public
13 libraries to provide technology access and training to
14 community and faith-based organizations. Funding provided
15 under this subparagraph must be for eligible public libraries
16 in distressed communities in the state. The division shall
17 consult with the Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce to
18 identify such communities and to develop criteria to be used
19 in evaluating funding proposals. The division shall coordinate
20 with the institute to ensure that, to the maximum extent
21 possible, the division and the institute leverage their
22 resources under the programs authorized by this section in
23 order to focus efforts on addressing the most distressed
24 communities in the state. The division shall include a
25 representative of the institute on a review team to evaluate
26 funding proposals under this subparagraph.
27 2. Provide a method of assessment and outcome
28 measurement for e-rate eligible public libraries to assess
29 progress in closing the digital divide and in training for
30 individuals to succeed in the emerging information economy.
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1 (4) FUNDING.--There is appropriated from the General
2 Revenue Fund in fiscal year 2000-2001 the amount of $2.5
3 million to the Institute on Urban Policy and Commerce at
4 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University to administer
5 the Community and Faith-based Organizations Initiative. There
6 is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund in fiscal year
7 2000-2001 the amount of $0.5 million to the Division of
8 Library and Information Services to provide Community and
9 Library Technology Access Partnership grants to e-rate
10 eligible public libraries. Funding shall not be used for
11 religious or sectarian purposes.
12 Section 2. Community computer access grant program.--
13 (1) The Legislature finds that there is a growing
14 digital divide in the state, manifested in the fact that many
15 youths from distressed urban communities do not possess the
16 degree and ease of access to computers and information
17 technologies which youths in other communities in the state
18 possess. This disparity in access to rapidly changing and
19 commercially significant technologies has a negative impact on
20 the educational, workforce development, and employment
21 competitiveness of these needy youths, and thereby impedes the
22 economic development of the distressed urban communities in
23 which these youths reside. Although many public libraries
24 offer users access to computers and are increasingly making
25 library materials available to the public through electronic
26 means, many youths from distressed urban communities do not
27 live near a library that has such technology and do not have
28 computers to access Internet-based virtual libraries.
29 Neighborhood organizations, such as churches, are more likely,
30 however, to be located in closer proximity to the homes of
31 these youths than are educational institutions or libraries,
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1 and these youths are more likely to gain the desirable
2 computer access at church-related or other neighborhood
3 facilities than at other institutions. The Legislature
4 therefore finds that a public purpose is served in enhancing
5 the ability of youths from these communities to have access to
6 computers and the Internet within the neighborhoods in which
7 they reside.
8 (2) Subject to legislative appropriation, the Division
9 of Library and Information Services of the Department of
10 State, in consultation with the State Technology Office and
11 the state's Chief Information Officer, shall establish a
12 Community High-Technology Investment Partnership (CHIP)
13 program to assist distressed urban communities in securing
14 computers for access by youths between the ages of 5 years and
15 18 years who reside in these communities.
16 (3)(a) Under this program, neighborhood facilities,
17 through their governing bodies, may apply to the division for
18 grants to purchase computers that will be available for use by
19 eligible youths who reside in the immediate vicinity of the
20 neighborhood facility. For purposes of this program, eligible
21 neighborhood facilities include, but are not limited to,
22 facilities operated by:
23 1. Units of local government, including school
24 districts;
25 2. Not-for-profit, faith-based organizations,
26 including neighborhood churches;
27 3. Not-for-profit civic associations or homeowners'
28 associations; and
29 4. Not-for-profit organizations, the missions of which
30 include improving conditions for residents of distressed urban
31 communities.
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1 (b) Notwithstanding the eligibility of the
2 organizations identified in paragraph (a), the division shall
3 give priority consideration for funding under this program to
4 applications submitted by neighborhood churches or by
5 neighborhood-based, not-for-profit organizations that have as
6 a principal part of their missions the improvement of
7 conditions for residents of the same neighborhoods in which
8 the organizations are located. The division also shall give
9 priority consideration to organizations that demonstrate that
10 they have not been awarded community enhancement or similar
11 community support grants from state or local government on a
12 regular basis in the past. The division shall develop weighted
13 criteria to be used in evaluating applications from such
14 churches or organizations. Funding under this section shall
15 not be used for religious or sectarian purposes.
16 (4) The division shall develop guidelines governing
17 the administration of this program and shall establish
18 criteria to be used in evaluating an application for funding.
19 At a minimum, the division must find that:
20 (a) The neighborhood that is to be served by the grant
21 suffers from general economic distress;
22 (b) Eligible youths who reside in the vicinity of the
23 neighborhood facility have difficulty obtaining access to a
24 library or schools that have sufficient computers; and
25 (c) The neighborhood facility has developed a detailed
26 plan, as required under subsection (5), for:
27 1. Providing youths who reside in the vicinity of the
28 facility with access to any computer purchased with grant
29 funds, including evening and weekend access when libraries and
30 schools are closed; and
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1 2. Promoting the maximum participation of neighborhood
2 youths in use of any computers purchased with grant funds.
3 (5) As part of an application for funding, the
4 neighborhood facility must submit a plan that demonstrates:
5 (a) The manner in which eligible youths who reside in
6 the immediate vicinity of the facility will be provided with
7 access to any computer purchased with grant funds, including
8 access during hours when libraries and schools are closed;
9 (b) The existence of safeguards to ensure that any
10 computer purchased with grant funds is reserved for the
11 educational use of eligible youths who reside in the immediate
12 vicinity of the facility and is not used to support the
13 business operations of the neighborhood facility or its
14 governing body; and
15 (c) The existence, in the neighborhood facility, of
16 telecommunications infrastructure necessary to guarantee
17 access to the Internet through any computer purchased with
18 grant funds.
19 (6) The maximum amount of a grant which may be awarded
20 to any single neighborhood facility under this program is
21 $2,500.
22 (7) Before the division may allocate funds for a grant
23 under this program, the division and the eligible neighborhood
24 facility must execute a grant agreement that governs the terms
25 and conditions of the grant.
26 (8) The division, based upon guidance from the State
27 Technology Office and the state's Chief Information Officer,
28 shall establish minimum requirements governing the
29 specifications and capabilities of any computers purchased
30 with funds awarded under this grant program.
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1 (9) Before the 2002 Regular Session of the
2 Legislature, the division shall evaluate the outcomes of this
3 program and report the results of the evaluation to the
4 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
5 House of Representatives. At a minimum, the evaluation must
6 assess the extent to which the program has improved access to
7 computers for youths who reside in distressed urban
8 communities. As part of this report, the division shall
9 identify any impediments to the effective implementation and
10 utilization of the program and shall make recommendations on
11 methods to eliminate any such impediments. In addition, the
12 division shall make recommendations as to whether it would be
13 sound public policy to continue the program; whether the
14 program should be expanded to address additional target
15 populations, including, but not limited to, youths in
16 distressed rural communities and adults in distressed urban or
17 rural communities; and whether the list of neighborhood
18 facilities eligible to participate in the program should be
19 revised or whether priority consideration for funding should
20 be revised to emphasize a particular type of neighborhood
21 facility. The report required under this subsection must be
22 submitted by January 1, 2002.
23 Section 3. The sum of $500,000 is appropriated from
24 the General Revenue Fund to the Division of Library and
25 Information Services of the Department of State for the
26 purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act creating
27 the Community High-Technology Investment Partnership during
28 the 2000-2001 fiscal year.
29 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for CS for SB 406
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 CS/SB 406
3
4 This committee substitute requires the Institute on Urban
Policy and Commerce (institute) at the Florida Agricultural
5 and Mechanical University, to the maximum extent possible, to
leverage state funding with federal funding for support of the
6 Community and Faith-based Organizations Initiative
(initiative).
7
The Division of Library and Information Services (division) of
8 the Department of State must provide funding under the
Community and Library Technology Access Partnership
9 (partnership) to those eligible libraries located in
distressed urban areas, and both the division and the
10 institute must leverage the resources of the initiative and
partnership programs to focus efforts on the most distressed
11 communities in the state.
12 In addition, the committee substitute requires the division to
establish a Community High-Technology Investment Partnership
13 (CHIP) program to assist neighborhood facilities in distressed
urban communities in securing computers for access by youths
14 between the ages of 5 years and 18 years who reside in these
communities. Under this program, neighborhood facilities,
15 including units of local government, not-for-profit
faith-based organizations, not-for-profit civic associations
16 or homeowners' associations, and other not-for-profit
organizations with a community development mission, may apply
17 to the division for grants to purchase computers that will be
available for use by eligible youths who reside in the
18 immediate vicinity of the neighborhood facility.
19 The maximum amount of a grant which may be awarded to any
single neighborhood facility under this program is $2,500, and
20 no funding may be used for religious or sectarian purposes.
The committee substitute appropriates $500,000 from the
21 General Revenue Fund to the division to carry out the
provisions of the CHIP program.
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