| 1 | The Conference Committee on HB 1841 offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Conference Committee Amendment (with title amendment) |
| 4 | Remove everything after the enacting clause and insert: |
| 5 | Section 1. Section 216.222, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 6 | to read: |
| 7 | 216.222 Budget Stabilization Fund; criteria for |
| 8 | withdrawing moneys.-- |
| 9 | (1) Moneys in the Budget Stabilization Fund may be |
| 10 | transferred to the General Revenue Fund for: |
| 11 | (1)(a)1. Offsetting a deficit in the General Revenue Fund. |
| 12 | A deficit is deemed to occur when the official estimate of funds |
| 13 | available in the General Revenue Fund for a fiscal year falls |
| 14 | below the total amount appropriated from the General Revenue |
| 15 | Fund for that fiscal year. Such a transfer must be made pursuant |
| 16 | to s. 216.221, or pursuant to an appropriation by law. |
| 17 | 2.(b) Notwithstanding the requirements of s. 216.221, if, |
| 18 | after consultation with the Revenue Estimating Conference, the |
| 19 | Chief Financial Officer believes that a deficit will occur in |
| 20 | the General Revenue Fund and if: |
| 21 | a.1. Fewer than 30 but more than 4 days are left in the |
| 22 | fiscal year, the Legislature is not in session, and neither the |
| 23 | Legislature nor the Legislative Budget Commission is scheduled |
| 24 | to meet before the end of the fiscal year, or |
| 25 | b.2. Fewer than 5 days are left in the fiscal year and the |
| 26 | Governor and the Chief Justice, the Legislature, or the |
| 27 | Legislative Budget Commission have not implemented measures to |
| 28 | resolve the deficit, |
| 29 |
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| 30 | the Chief Financial Officer shall certify the deficit to the |
| 31 | Governor, the Chief Justice, the President of the Senate, and |
| 32 | the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and may thereafter |
| 33 | withdraw funds from the Budget Stabilization Fund to offset the |
| 34 | projected deficit in the General Revenue Fund. The Chief |
| 35 | Financial Officer shall consult with the Governor and the chair |
| 36 | and vice chair of the Legislative Budget Commission before any |
| 37 | funds may be withdrawn from the Budget Stabilization Fund. At |
| 38 | the beginning of the next fiscal year, the Chief Financial |
| 39 | Officer shall promptly determine the General Revenue Fund |
| 40 | balance to be carried forward. The Chief Financial Officer shall |
| 41 | immediately repay the Budget Stabilization Fund for the |
| 42 | withdrawn amount, up to the amount of the balance. If the |
| 43 | General Revenue Fund balance carried forward is not sufficient |
| 44 | to fully repay the Budget Stabilization Fund, the repayment of |
| 45 | the remainder of the withdrawn funds shall be as provided in s. |
| 46 | 215.32(2)(c)3. |
| 47 | (b)(2) Providing funding for an emergency as defined in s. |
| 48 | 252.34. The emergency must have been declared by the Governor |
| 49 | pursuant to s. 252.36 or declared by law. Such a transfer must |
| 50 | be made pursuant to s. 252.37, subject to the conditions in that |
| 51 | section, or pursuant to an appropriation by law. |
| 52 | (c)(3) Providing temporary transfers to the General |
| 53 | Revenue Fund pursuant to s. 215.18. |
| 54 | (2)(a) Moneys in the Budget Stabilization Fund may be |
| 55 | transferred to the State Risk Management Trust Fund to provide |
| 56 | funding for an emergency. For purposes of this subsection, an |
| 57 | emergency exists when uninsured losses to state property exceed |
| 58 | $2 million per occurrence or $5 million annual aggregate, as |
| 59 | this constitutes an unanticipated financial need that the |
| 60 | Legislature has found must be funded to serve an essential state |
| 61 | responsibility. |
| 62 | (b) At such time that the Division of Risk Management |
| 63 | certifies that uninsured property losses exceed $2 million per |
| 64 | occurrence or $5 million annual aggregate, the division shall |
| 65 | request a budget amendment through the procedures set out in s. |
| 66 | 216.181. Transfers into the State Risk Management Trust Fund |
| 67 | pursuant to this paragraph may not exceed $38 million in any |
| 68 | fiscal year. |
| 69 | Section 2. Section 215.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to |
| 70 | read: |
| 71 | 215.18 Transfers between funds; limitation.--Whenever |
| 72 | there exists in any fund provided for by s. 215.32 a deficiency |
| 73 | which would render such fund insufficient to meet its just |
| 74 | requirements, and there shall exist in the other funds in the |
| 75 | State Treasury moneys which are for the time being or otherwise |
| 76 | in excess of the amounts necessary to meet the just requirements |
| 77 | of such last-mentioned funds, the Governor may order a temporary |
| 78 | transfer of moneys from one fund to another in order to meet |
| 79 | temporary deficiencies in a particular fund without resorting to |
| 80 | the necessity of borrowing money and paying interest thereon. |
| 81 | Except as otherwise provided in s. 216.222(1)(a)2.(b), the fund |
| 82 | from which any money is temporarily transferred shall be repaid |
| 83 | the amount transferred from it not later than the end of the |
| 84 | fiscal year in which such transfer is made, the date of |
| 85 | repayment to be specified in the order of the Governor. |
| 86 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |
| 87 |
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| 88 | ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================= |
| 89 | Remove the entire title and insert: |
| 90 | A bill to be entitled |
| 91 | An act relating to the Budget Stabilization Fund; amending |
| 92 | s. 216.222, F.S.; providing for transferring of funds from |
| 93 | the Budget Stabilization Fund to the State Risk Management |
| 94 | Trust Fund for emergencies relating to certain property |
| 95 | losses incurred by the state; specifying conditions of |
| 96 | such an emergency; providing certain limitations on such |
| 97 | transfers; amending s. 215.18, F.S.; conforming a cross |
| 98 | reference; providing an effective date. |
| 99 |
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| 100 | WHEREAS, the Division of Risk Management provides property |
| 101 | insurance coverage for all agencies within the executive, |
| 102 | legislative, and judicial branches of state government, and |
| 103 | WHEREAS, the state has historically retained losses of up |
| 104 | to $2 million per occurrence, $5 million annual aggregate, and |
| 105 | has obtained excess property insurance for higher amounts, and |
| 106 | WHEREAS, claims historically have seldom exceeded that |
| 107 | retention level, and |
| 108 | WHEREAS, insurance coverage above the retained amount and |
| 109 | up to $40 million costs approximately $8.6 million for coverage |
| 110 | for the 2002-2003 fiscal year, and |
| 111 | WHEREAS, excess property insurance with an annual |
| 112 | aggregate retention of $40 million is readily obtainable and |
| 113 | more reasonably priced such that it is in the best interest of |
| 114 | the state to purchase insurance coverage for losses exceeding |
| 115 | the $40 million aggregate retention level, and |
| 116 | WHEREAS, it appears financially prudent to provide an |
| 117 | alternative mechanism for paying unanticipated losses of up to |
| 118 | $40 million annual aggregate retention, and |
| 119 | WHEREAS, the Legislature further finds that property |
| 120 | losses in excess of the coverage historically retained by the |
| 121 | state constitute an unanticipated financial need, and |
| 122 | WHEREAS, an unanticipated financial need that the |
| 123 | Legislature has found must be funded to serve the essential |
| 124 | state responsibility of maintaining state buildings constitutes |
| 125 | an emergency, and |
| 126 | WHEREAS, it would be appropriate to use moneys from the |
| 127 | Budget Stabilization Fund to cover such an emergency, NOW, |
| 128 | THEREFORE, |