HB 1043 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the corporate income tax; amending s.
3	220.187, F.S.; redefining the term "qualified student" to
4	include certain postsecondary students; defining the term
5	"qualified postsecondary scholarship program"; allowing
6	credit to be taken against the tax for contributions to
7	public school district educational foundations that
8	provide scholarships or academic improvement programs for
9	postsecondary students who qualify for free and reduced
10	lunch under the National School Lunch Act; providing
11	standards and procedures for such scholarship and academic
12	improvement programs; providing an effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section
17	220.187, Florida Statutes, are amended, paragraph (f) is added
18	to that subsection, and subsection (4) of that section is
19	amended, to read:
20	220.187 Credits for contributions to nonprofit
21	scholarship-funding organizations.--
22	(2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
23	(e) "Qualified student" means a student who qualifies for
24	free or reduced-price school lunches under the National School
25	Lunch Act and who:
26	1. Was counted as a full-time equivalent student during
27	the previous state fiscal year for purposes of state per-student
28	funding;
29	2. Received a scholarship from an eligible nonprofit
30	scholarship-funding organization during the previous school
31	year; or
32	3. Is eligible to enter kindergarten or first grade; or.
33	4. Is eligible to receive a postsecondary scholarship from
34	a district school board direct support organization as
35	established by s. 1001.453.
36	(f) "Qualified postsecondary scholarship program" means a
37	scholarship program administered by a district school board
38	direct-support organization as established by s. 1001.453 to
39	provide postsecondary scholarships for students who qualify for
40	free and reduced lunch under the National School Lunch Act.
41	(4) OBLIGATIONS OF ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT SCHOLARSHIP-FUNDING
42	ORGANIZATIONS.--
43	(a) An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
44	shall provide scholarships or academic improvement programs,
45	from eligible contributions, to qualified students for:
46	1. Tuition or textbook expenses for, or transportation to,
47	an eligible nonpublic school. At least 75 percent of the
48	scholarship funding must be used to pay tuition expenses; or
49	2. Transportation expenses to a Florida public school that
50	is located outside the district in which the student resides.
51	3. A qualified postsecondary scholarship program.
52	4. A program designed to improve reading skills with
53	definable outcomes.
54	5. A program designed to enhance and improve best
55	practices for teachers.
56	(b) An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
57	shall give priority to qualified students who received a
58	scholarship from an eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
59	organization during the previous school year.
60	(c) The amount of a scholarship provided to any child for
61	any single school year by all eligible nonprofit scholarship-
62	funding organizations from eligible contributions shall not
63	exceed the following annual limits:
64	1. Three thousand five hundred dollars for a scholarship
65	awarded to a student enrolled in an eligible nonpublic school or
66	a postsecondary institution.
67	2. Five hundred dollars for a scholarship awarded to a
68	student enrolled in a Florida public school that is located
69	outside the district in which the student resides.
70	(d) The amount of an eligible contribution which may be
71	accepted by an eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
72	organization is limited to the amount needed to provide
73	scholarships for qualified students whomwhichthe organization
74	has identified and for whomwhichvacancies in eligible
75	nonpublic schools or postsecondary institutionshave been
76	identified.
77	(e) An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
78	that receives an eligible contribution must spend 100 percent of
79	the eligible contribution to provide scholarships in the same
80	state fiscal year in which the contribution was received. No
81	portion of eligible contributions may be used for administrative
82	expenses. All interest accrued from contributions must be used
83	for the purposes stated hereinscholarships.
84	(f) An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
85	that receives eligible contributions must provide to the Auditor
86	General an annual financial and compliance audit of its accounts
87	and records conducted by an independent certified public
88	accountant and in accordance with rules adopted by the Auditor
89	General.
90	(g)1. Payment of the scholarship for students in grades K-
91	12 by the eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
92	mustshallbe by individual warrant or check made payable to the
93	student's parent. If the parent chooses for his or her child to
94	attend an eligible nonpublic school, the warrant or check must
95	be mailed by the eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
96	organization to the nonpublic school of the parent's choice, and
97	the parent shall restrictively endorse the warrant or check to
98	the nonpublic school. An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
99	organization shall ensure that, upon receipt of a scholarship
100	warrant or check, the parent to whom the warrant or check is
101	made restrictively endorses the warrant or check to the
102	nonpublic school of the parent's choice for deposit into the
103	account of the nonpublic school.
104	2. Payment of the scholarship for a postsecondary student
105	by the eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization must
106	be by individual warrant or check made payable to the
107	postsecondary institution.
108	Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.