House Bill hb1671

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.




    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1671

        By Representative Slosberg






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to proceeds from the tobacco

  3         settlement; amending s. 569.21, F.S.; requiring

  4         the Governor, in consultation with the Attorney

  5         General, to report by a date certain on the

  6         status of the tobacco settlement agreement and

  7         the formula for calculating the annual

  8         payments; requiring the Comptroller to request

  9         informations from the tobacco industry which

10         are used to calculate the annual payments and

11         to verify such information; requiring the

12         Comptroller to notify the Governor, the Senate,

13         and the House of Representatives of any

14         overpayment or underpayment; authorizing any

15         refund of overpayment subject to approval by

16         the Legislative Budget Commission; requiring

17         the Comptroller to request the balance of any

18         underpayment; directing the Attorney General to

19         institute action to collect any unpaid

20         underpayment; requiring the Auditor General to

21         annually review the state's process for

22         verification of representations in order to

23         confirm that settlement payments are being made

24         in accordance with the settlement agreement,

25         and to report to the Governor, the Legislature,

26         and the Attorney General regarding such

27         confirmation; providing for budget amendments

28         and transfer of funds between agencies;

29         providing an effective date.

30  

31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1671

    797-118-02






  1         Section 1.  Present subsections (2) through (12) of

  2  section 569.21, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as

  3  subsections (4) through (14), respectively, and new

  4  subsections (2) and (3) are added to that section, to read:

  5         569.21  Expenditure of tobacco settlement

  6  proceeds.--The following guidelines shall be applied to the

  7  expenditure of all funds paid to the State of Florida as a

  8  result of litigation entitled The State of Florida et al. v.

  9  American Tobacco Company et al., Case #95-1466AH, in the

10  Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for

11  Palm Beach County:

12         (2)  The Governor, in consultation with the Attorney

13  General, shall submit a report to the President of the Senate,

14  the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Comptroller,

15  and the Auditor General by October 1, 2002, on the status of

16  the settlement agreement as amended, in The State of Florida

17  et al. v. American Tobacco Company et al., Case #95-1466AH, in

18  the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in and

19  for Palm Beach County. The report shall specifically describe

20  and explain the settlement agreement's formula for determining

21  the amount of the annual tobacco settlement payments and the

22  application of the formula.

23         (3)  The Comptroller shall request information from the

24  tobacco industry with respect to calculating the annual

25  tobacco-settlement payments. The Comptroller, in consultation

26  with the Auditor General, shall verify the information from

27  the tobacco industry, verify the annual payment amounts by

28  applying the terms of the settlement agreement to the

29  submitted industry information, and appropriately resolve

30  inconsistencies. The Comptroller may obtain contractual

31  

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1671

    797-118-02






  1  services necessary to verify the information from the tobacco

  2  industry.

  3         (a)  If the Comptroller determines that there has been

  4  an overpayment by a settling defendant pursuant to the

  5  settlement agreement and the Auditor General confirms the

  6  overpayment, the Comptroller shall notify the Governor, the

  7  Senate, and the House of Representatives of such overpayment.

  8  Upon approval by the Legislative Budget Commission, a refund

  9  shall be made by the Comptroller to the respective settling

10  defendant for the overpayment.

11         (b)  If the Comptroller determines that there has been

12  an underpayment by a settling defendant pursuant to the

13  settlement agreement and the Auditor General confirms the

14  underpayment, the Comptroller shall notify the Governor, the

15  Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Attorney General

16  of such underpayment. Within 10 days of the notification the

17  Comptroller shall on behalf of the state request the

18  respective settling defendant to pay the underpayment. If

19  within 40 days after the request for payment the settling

20  defendant has not made payment or entered into an agreement

21  with the Attorney General and the Governor for a method of

22  payment, the Attorney General shall institute proceedings in

23  State of Florida v. American Tobacco to enforce the agreement

24  and to collect the amount owed.

25         (c)  The Auditor General shall annually review the

26  state's process for verifying the annual tobacco settlement

27  payments and confirm that the payments were properly made in

28  accordance with the settlement agreement. The Auditor General

29  shall report on such confirmation and any deviation from such

30  process to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the

31  

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1671

    797-118-02






  1  Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Comptroller, and

  2  the Attorney General.

  3         Section 2.  The Governor is authorized to submit a

  4  budget amendment to the Legislative Budget Commission to

  5  transfer funds from the Tobacco Settlement Clearing Trust Fund

  6  or any of the agency Tobacco Settlement Trust Funds to the

  7  appropriate trust funds of the Governor, Comptroller, or

  8  Attorney General to cover costs incurred to ensure that

  9  tobacco settlement receipt amounts are accurate. This section

10  authorizes transfers between agencies, pursuant to the

11  requirements of section 216.292(1)(a), Florida Statutes. The

12  total amount transferred from the Tobacco Settlement Clearing

13  Trust Fund and the agency Tobacco Settlement Trust Funds shall

14  not exceed $1 million.

15         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

16  law.

17  

18            *****************************************

19                       LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

20  
      Requires the Governor, in consultation with the Attorney
21    General, to report on the status of the tobacco
      settlement agreement and the formula for calculating the
22    annual payments. Requires the Comptroller to notify the
      Governor and the Legislature of any overpayment or
23    underpayment and the means to rectify those conditions.
      Directs the Auditor General to review the process and
24    report on payments under the agreement. Provides
      authority for budget amendments and the transfer of funds
25    between agencies.

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  4

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.