SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Productivity
12 recommended the following amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent; Digital
19 Divide Council; powers and duties; program objectives and
20 goals; review and assessment of program performances; annual
21 report.
22 (1) Legislative findings and intent.--The Legislature
23 finds as follows:
24 (a) frequent access to use of information technology
25 and possession of the knowledge and skills required to use
26 information technology productively is becoming increasingly
27 important to being competitively qualified for high skill/high
28 wage employment;
29 (b) the availability of reasonable opportunities to
30 have frequent access to use of information technology and to
31 obtain the education and training necessary to acquire the
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 knowledge and skills required to use information technology
2 productively is critical to becoming competitively qualified
3 for high skill/high wage employment;
4 (c) families that are living near or below the poverty
5 level are without adequate economic resources to have
6 reasonable opportunities to obtain frequent access to use of
7 information technology or the education and training necessary
8 to acquire the knowledge and skills required to become
9 competively qualified for high skill/high wage employment;
10 (d) the absence of such economic resources divides
11 such families from those who have adequate economic resources
12 to have such opportunities, places such families at-risk of
13 never realizing their employment and income earning potential,
14 and prevents the state's economy from prospering to the extent
15 it could if such families realized their employment and income
16 earning potential; and
17 (e) the divide between the members of such at-risk
18 families and those who have adequate economic resources to
19 have reasonable opportunities to obtain frequent use of
20 information technology and the education and training
21 necessary to acquire the knowledge and skills required to
22 become competitively qualified for high skill/high wage
23 employment could be reduced, and the economy of the state
24 could be enhanced, by the design and implementation of
25 programs that provide such opportunities to members of such
26 at-risk families.
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28 It is the intent of the Legislature to provide the authority
29 and resources reasonably necessary to facilitate design and
30 implementation of such programs.
31 (2) Digital Divide Council.--There is created in the
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 State Technology Office a Digital Divide Council. The Council
2 shall be constituted as follows:
3 (a) the Chief Information Officer in the State
4 Technology Office;
5 (b) the Director of the Office of Tourism, Trade and
6 Economic Development in the Executive Office of the Governor;
7 (c) the President of Workforce Florida, Inc.;
8 (d) the Director of the Agency for Workforce
9 Innovation;
10 (e) the Chair of itflorida.com, Inc.;
11 (f) the Commissioner of Education;
12 (g) the Executive Director of the State Board of
13 Community Colleges;
14 (h) the Executive Director of the State Board for
15 Career Education;
16 (i) the Chair of the Network Access Point of the
17 Americas;
18 (j) a representative of the information technology
19 industry in Florida appointed by the Speaker of the Florida
20 House of Representatives;
21 (k) a representative of the information technology
22 industry in Florida appointed by the President of the Florida
23 Senate.
24 (l) two members of the Florida House of
25 Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House, one of
26 whom shall be a member of the Republican caucus, and the other
27 of whom shall be a member of the Democratic caucus; and
28 (m) two members of the Florida Senate appointed by the
29 President of the Senate, one of whom shall be a member of the
30 Republican caucus, and the other of whom shall be a member of
31 the Democratic caucus.
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 (3) Term of appointed members of Council; vacancies;
2 compensation of members.--
3 The appointed members of the Council shall serve an
4 initial term of one year commencing July 1, 2001, and ending
5 June 30, 2002, and successor appointees shall serve a term of
6 two years, the first of which shall commence July 1, 2002 and
7 end June 30, 2004. Successive two year terms shall commence
8 and end on the same schedule in subsequent years. Any vacancy
9 in the membership of the Council resulting from resignation,
10 incapacity or death shall be filled within 30 days from the
11 date the vacancy is effective. The appointed members of the
12 Council shall serve without compensation, but such appointees
13 and the other members of the Council shall be entitled to
14 receive per diem and reimbursement for travel expenses as
15 provided in s. 112.061, Florida Statute. Payment of such per
16 diem and reimbursement of such travel expenses shall be made
17 from revenues deposited in the Digital Divide Trust Fund and
18 from appropriations authorized to be used for such purposes.
19 (4) Council meetings; election of officers.--The
20 Council shall conduct its initial meeting by August 1, 2001,
21 and shall meet thereafter at least once every 60 days. In its
22 initial meeting, the members of the Council shall elect one of
23 themselves to serve as Chair and another to serve as
24 Vice-Chair, each for a term of one year from the date of the
25 election. Any vacancy in the offices of Chair and Vice-Chair
26 resulting from resignation, incapacity or death shall be
27 filled by similar election within 30 days from the date the
28 vacancy is effective.
29 (5) Administrative and technical support; payment of
30 support costs.--The State Technology Office shall provide such
31 administrative and technical support to the Council as is
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 reasonably necessary for the Council to effectively and timely
2 carry out its duties and responsibilities. All direct and
3 indirect costs of providing such support and performing the
4 other duties imposed on the State Technology Office related to
5 design and implementation of the programs authorized above
6 shall be paid from revenues deposited in the Digital Divide
7 Trust Fund and from appropriations authorized to be used for
8 such purposes.
9 (6) Powers and duties of Council.--The Digital Divide
10 Council, through the State Technology Office, is authorized
11 and empowered to facilitate the design and implementation of
12 programs that are aimed at achieving the objectives and goals
13 stated in this section. The State Technology Office shall
14 present and demonstrate to the Council the design
15 characteristics and functional elements of each program
16 proposed to be implemented to achieve the objectives and goals
17 stated in this section, and each such program shall be
18 reviewed and approved by the Council before being
19 implemented. Such programs shall initially be implemented as
20 pilot programs in a minimum of six different areas of the
21 state to develop model programs that are likely to be
22 successful if deployed throughout the state. The areas of the
23 state where the pilot programs are implemented shall be
24 selected by the Digital Divide Council with the objectives of
25 testing the merits of the programs in each geographic region
26 of the state and providing equal exposure of the programs to
27 urban and rural communities alike. Implementation of all such
28 pilot and model programs shall be administered by and through
29 the local workforce development boards, and each such board
30 shall coordinate and confirm the ready availability and timely
31 delivery of all elements of such programs to ensure the
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 highest probability of such programs achieving their intended
2 results.
3 (7) Program objectives and goals.--The programs
4 authorized by this section shall have the following objectives
5 and goals:
6 (a) maximizing efficient and productive use of
7 existing facilities, equipment, personnel, programs and funds
8 available from federal, state and local government agencies,
9 and from any private person or entity;
10 (b) using innovative concepts employing newly
11 developed technologies in educating and training those who are
12 enrolled in the programs authorized by this section;
13 (c) developing viable partnerships between public
14 agencies and private persons and entities based on mutual
15 commitment to responsible and dedicated participation in
16 designing and implementing the programs authorized by this
17 section;
18 (d) recruiting, enrolling, retaining and graduating as
19 many at-risk family members as feasible to ensure that they
20 have reasonable opportunities to obtain access to frequent use
21 of information technology and the education and training
22 necessary to competitively qualify them for high skill/high
23 wage employment;
24 (e) reducing the number of underachieving and failing
25 students in the state's public school systems who are members
26 of at-risk families;
27 (f) reducing the number of underemployed and
28 unemployed members of at-risk families;
29 (g) using information technology to facilitate
30 achievement of Sunshine State Standards by all children
31 enrolled in the state's K-12 school system who are members of
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 at-risk families;
2 (h) training teachers in the state's K-12 school
3 system to efficiently and effectively use information
4 technology to plan, teach and administer all courses of
5 instruction required and available by election of children
6 enrolled in the system;
7 (i) using information technology to enable members of
8 at-risk families who are no longer enrolled in K-12 schools to
9 obtain the education needed to achieve successful completion
10 of general education development test preparation to earn a
11 high school diploma, an applied technology diploma, a
12 vocational certificate, an associate of arts degree, or a
13 baccalaureate degree;
14 (j) bridge the digital divide in developing a
15 competitive workforce to meet the employment needs of Florida
16 based information technology businesses and establish Florida
17 as having the most information technology ready workforce in
18 the western hemisphere.
19 (8) Monitoring, reviewing and evaluating program
20 performances; reporting results.
21 The Digital Divide Council, through the State
22 Technology Office, shall continually monitor, review and
23 evaluate the progress of performances realized from
24 implementation of the programs authorized by this
25 section. The State Technology Office shall prepare and submit
26 a report to the Council at least 10 days in advance of each of
27 its meetings subsequent to its initial meeting and each such
28 report shall, at a minimum, identify and describe the
29 functional elements of each program being implemented, and
30 identify and describe the facilities, equipment, personnel,
31 programs and funds used to design and implement the
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 program. For each such program, the report shall also
2 identify by name, address, age and sex the school-age
3 children, and their older siblings and parents who are
4 enrolled in the program, state the educational level achieved
5 by each enrollee as of the date he or she enrolled in the
6 program, state the attendance and achievement level recorded
7 for each enrollee in the program, evaluate the progress each
8 enrollee is making toward successful completion of the
9 program, and identify by name, address, age and sex each
10 enrollee who successfully completes the program. For each
11 such program that is designed to prepare enrollees for high
12 skill/high wage employment, the report shall identify each
13 enrollee who successfully completes the program, describe each
14 such employment position for which each enrollee has applied,
15 identify by name, address and nature of business each Florida
16 based employer to whom each such application for employment
17 has been addressed, state the results each enrollee obtained
18 from making each such application, and describe the nature of
19 any employment obtained and terms of compensation being earned
20 from such employment by each enrollee as a result of making
21 such applications.
22 (9) Annual report.--By March 1, 2002, the Digital
23 Divide Council, through the State Technology Office, shall
24 report to the Executive Office of the Governor, the Speaker of
25 the Florida House of Representatives, and the President of the
26 Florida Senate the results of the Council's monitoring,
27 reviewing and evaluating such programs since their inception,
28 and the Council's recommendations as to whether such programs
29 should be continued and expanded to achieve the objectives and
30 goals stated in this section.
31 Section 2. There is hereby appropriated $3 million
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1462
Amendment No. 1 Barcode 521910
1 from the Digital Divide Trust Fund to implement this act, $1
2 million of which shall be released on July 1, 2001, and the
3 remainder of which shall be released upon deposit of matching
4 funds in the Digital Divide Trust Fund. Matching funds shall
5 include, but not be limited to, any non-Temporary Assistance
6 to Needy Families funds, any other federal, state and local
7 government funds, and any gifts, donations, in-kind or
8 matching contributions from private person or entity that may
9 be lawfully made to and received in the Digital Divide Trust
10 Fund.
11 Section 3. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2001,
12 or upon becoming a law, whichever first occurs.
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15 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
16 And the title is amended as follows:
17 On page 1, lines 2-6, delete all of said lines
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19 and insert:
20 An act relating to workforce development through
21 education and training in information technology; stating
22 legislative findings and intent; providing for creation of
23 Digital Divide Council; authorizing design and implementation
24 of programs; expressing program objectives and goals;
25 providing for review and assessment of program performances;
26 providing an appropriation; providing an effective date.
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