(LATE FILED)Amendment
Bill No. 1168
Amendment No. 207639
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
.
.
.




1Representative(s) Russell offered the following:
2
3     Amendment (with title amendment)
4     On page 2, line 28,
5remove:  everything after the enacting clause
6
7and insert:  
8     Section 1.  Section 427.012, Florida Statutes, is amended
9to read:
10     427.012  The Commission for the Transportation
11Disadvantaged.--There is created the Commission for the
12Transportation Disadvantaged in the Department of
13Transportation.
14     (1)  The commission shall consist of seven members, all of
15whom shall be appointed by the Governor.
16     (a)  Five of the appointed members must have significant
17experience in the operation of a business and, when making an
18appointment, it is the intent of the Legislature that the
19Governor select persons who reflect the broad diversity of the
20business community in this state, as well as the racial, ethnic,
21geographical, and gender diversity of the population of this
22state.
23     (b)  Two of the members appointed must be persons with a
24disability who use the transportation disadvantaged system.
25     (c)  Each member of the commission shall represent the
26needs of the transportation disadvantaged throughout the state.
27A member may not subordinate the needs of the transportation
28disadvantaged in general in order to favor the needs of others
29residing in a specific location in the state.
30     (d)  Each person appointed to the board of the commission
31shall serve a term of 4 years. A member may be reappointed for
32one additional 4-year term.
33     (e)  A member must be a citizen of the state and a
34registered voter.
35     (f)  The Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of
36Children and Family Services, the director of Workforce
37Innovation, the executive director of the Department of
38Veterans' Affairs, the Secretary of Elderly Affairs, the
39Secretary of Health Care Administration, the director of the
40Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and an elected official of
41local government who is appointed by the Governor, or a designee
42of each, respectively, shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting
43advisors to the commission.
44     (g)  A person appointed to the board of the commission may
45not, within the 5 years immediately before the appointment, or
46during his or her term on the board, have or have had a
47financial relationship with, or represent or have represented as
48a lobbyist as defined in s. 11.045 the following:
49     1.  A transportation operator;
50     2.  A community transportation coordinator;
51     3.  A metropolitan planning organization;
52     4.  A designated official planning agency;
53     5.  A purchaser agency;
54     6.  A local coordinating board;
55     7.  A broker of transportation; or
56     8.  A provider of transportation services. the following
57members:
58     (a)  The secretary of the Department of Transportation or
59the secretary's designee.
60     (b)  The secretary of the Department of Children and Family
61Services or the secretary's designee.
62     (c)  The Commissioner of Education or the commissioner's
63designee.
64     (d)  The secretary of the Department of Labor and
65Employment Security or the secretary's designee.
66     (e)  The executive director of the Department of Veterans'
67Affairs or the executive director's designee.
68     (f)  The secretary of the Department of Elderly Affairs or
69the secretary's designee.
70     (g)  The director of the Agency for Health Care
71Administration or the director's designee.
72     (h)  A representative of the Florida Association for
73Community Action, who shall serve at the pleasure of that
74association.
75     (i)  A representative of the Florida Transit Association,
76who shall serve at the pleasure of that association.
77     (j)  A person over the age of 60 who is a member of a
78recognized statewide organization representing elderly
79Floridians. Such person shall be appointed by the Governor to
80represent elderly Floridians and shall be appointed to serve a
81term of 4 years.
82     (k)  A handicapped person who is a member of a recognized
83statewide organization representing handicapped Floridians. Such
84person shall be appointed by the Governor to represent
85handicapped Floridians and shall be appointed to serve a term of
864 years.
87     (l)  Two citizen advocate representatives who shall be
88appointed by the Governor for a term of 4 years, one
89representing rural citizens and one representing urban citizens.
90     (m)  A representative of the community transportation
91coordinators. Such person shall be appointed by the Governor to
92represent all community transportation coordinators and shall be
93appointed to serve a term of 4 years.
94     (n)  One member of the Early Childhood Council. Such person
95shall be appointed by the Governor to represent maternal and
96child health care providers and shall be appointed to serve a
97term of 4 years.
98     (o)  Two representatives of current private for-profit or
99private not-for-profit transportation operators each of which
100have a minimum of 5 years of continuous experience operating a
101broad-based system of ambulatory and wheelchair/stretcher type
102transportation, utilizing not less than 50 vehicles and
103including dispatch and scheduling responsibilities. Such persons
104shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture to serve a
105term of 4 years.
106     (p)  Four representatives of current private for-profit or
107private not-for-profit transportation operators, each of which
108having a minimum of 5 years of continuous experience operating a
109broad-based system of ambulatory and wheelchair or stretcher-
110type transportation, utilizing not less than 50 vehicles, and
111including dispatch and scheduling responsibilities. Such persons
112shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture to serve a
113term of 4 years.
114     (q)  Six citizens representing the nontransportation
115business community of the state, three members appointed by the
116President of the Senate and three members appointed by the
117Speaker of the House of Representatives.
118     (2)  The chairperson shall be appointed by the Governor and
119vice chairperson of the commission shall be elected annually
120from the membership of the commission.
121     (3)  Members of the commission shall serve without
122compensation but shall be allowed per diem and travel expenses,
123as provided in s. 112.061.
124     (4)  The commission shall meet at least quarterly, or more
125frequently at the call of the chairperson. Five Nine members of
126the commission constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of the
127members present is necessary for any action taken by the
128commission.
129     (5)  The Governor may remove any member of the commission
130for cause.
131     (6)  Each candidate for appointment to the commission must,
132before accepting the appointment, undergo background screening
133under s. 435.04, by filing with the Department of Transportation
134a complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law
135enforcement agency. The fingerprints must be submitted to the
136Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and that
137department shall submit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau
138of Investigation for federal processing. The Department of
139Transportation shall screen the background results and inform
140the commission if any candidate failed to meet level 2 screening
141standards. A candidate found to have failed to meet level 2
142screening standards may not be appointed to the commission. The
143cost of the background screening may be borne by the Department
144of Transportation or the candidate for appointment to the
145commission.
146     (7)(6)  The commission shall appoint an executive director
147who shall serve under the direction, supervision, and control of
148the commission. The executive director, with the consent of the
149commission, shall employ such personnel as may be necessary to
150perform adequately the functions of the commission within
151budgetary limitations. All employees of the commission are
152exempt from the Career Service System.
153     (8)  The commission shall appoint at least four technical
154advisory committees to advise the commission on issues of
155importance to the state and to regions of the state.
156     (a)  One technical advisory committee shall provide
157information, advice, and direction to the commission on the
158coordination of services for the transportation disadvantaged.
159Its membership shall include, but need not be limited to,
160representatives of community transportation coordinators and
161private paratransit providers.
162     (b)  One technical advisory committee shall provide
163information, advice, and direction to the commission on the
164transportation planning issues affecting the transportation
165disadvantaged program. Its membership may include, but need not
166be limited to, representatives of metropolitan planning
167organizations and regional planning councils.
168     (c)  One technical advisory committee shall provide
169information, advice, and direction to the commission on
170business-related issues affecting the transportation
171disadvantaged program. Its membership may include, but need not
172be limited to, persons with expertise in insurance, marketing,
173economic development, or financial planning.
174     (d)  One technical advisory committee shall be a forum for
175users of the transportation disadvantaged system. Its membership
176may include, but need not be limited to, direct users of the
177system and representatives of the users, such as parents and
178other relatives, guardians, and service professionals who tend
179to the needs of persons who are transportationally
180disadvantaged.
181     (e)  The commission may establish the size, composition,
182and focus of any technical advisory committee it creates. A
183member appointed to a technical advisory committee shall serve
184without compensation and without per diem.
185     (9)(7)  The commission is assigned to the office of the
186secretary of the Department of Transportation for administrative
187and fiscal accountability purposes, but it shall otherwise
188function independently of the control, supervision, and
189direction of the department.
190     (10)(8)  The commission shall develop a budget under
191pursuant to chapter 216. The budget is not subject to change by
192the department staff after it has been approved by the
193commission, but it shall be transmitted to the Governor, as head
194of the department, along with the budget of the department.
195     (11)(a)  No later than 30 days after the Governor issues
196his executive budget recommendations, the commission shall
197present to the Legislative Budget Commission a proposed formula
198for allocating the transportation funds that the commission
199anticipates receiving from the General Appropriations Act for
200the next fiscal year. The document must specifically detail the
201amount of funding expected to be allocated to each county for
202transportation disadvantaged services. The Legislative Budget
203Commission shall approve, reject, or request modifications to
204the formula no later than 60 days after receiving the proposed
205funding allocation formula.
206     (b)  Upon the General Appropriations Act becoming law, the
207commission shall present to the Legislative Budget Commission
208the county distribution schedule, which is the approved
209allocation formula applied to the funds allocated to the
210commission.
211     (c)  The commission may not change the transportation
212disadvantaged distribution schedule without the permission of
213the Legislative Budget Commission, except in the case of a
214disaster as defined in chapter 252.
215     Section 2.  Subsection (12) of section 427.013, Florida
216Statutes, is amended to read:
217     427.013  The Commission for the Transportation
218Disadvantaged; purpose and responsibilities.--The purpose of the
219commission is to accomplish the coordination of transportation
220services provided to the transportation disadvantaged. The goal
221of this coordination shall be to assure the cost-effective
222provision of transportation by qualified community
223transportation coordinators or transportation operators for the
224transportation disadvantaged without any bias or presumption in
225favor of multioperator systems or not-for-profit transportation
226operators over single operator systems or for-profit
227transportation operators. In carrying out this purpose, the
228commission shall:
229     (12)(a)  Have the authority to apply for and accept funds,
230grants, gifts, and services from the Federal Government, state
231government, local governments, or private funding sources.
232Applications by the commission for local government funds shall
233be coordinated through the appropriate coordinating board. Funds
234acquired or accepted under this subsection shall be administered
235by the commission and shall be used to carry out the
236commission's responsibilities.
237     (b)  Develop an allocation methodology or formula that
238equitably distributes all funds, to include Medicaid
239nonemergency transportation funds, under the control of the
240commission to compensate counties, community transportation
241coordinators, or other entities providing transportation
242disadvantaged services. The formula shall take into account not
243only the actual costs of each transportation disadvantaged trip
244but also those efficiencies that a provider might adopt to
245reduce costs, including cost efficiencies of trips when compared
246to the local cost of transporting the general public.
247     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.
248
249
250
251================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =================
252     On page 1, line 2 through page 2, line 25,
253remove:  all of said lines
254
255and insert:  An act relating to the Commission for the
256Transportation Disadvantaged; amending s. 427.012, F.S.;
257revising the membership of the commission; establishing term
258limits; directing each member of the commission to serve without
259regional bias; providing qualifications for appointment to
260membership on the commission; providing for nonvoting advisory
261members; requiring candidates for appointment to the commission
262to meet certain standards for background screening; requiring
263the Department of Transportation to inform the commission if a
264candidate fails to meet the screening standards; providing that
265costs of screening be borne by the department or the candidate
266for appointment; authorizing the commission to appoint technical
267advisory committees; requiring the commission to present a
268proposed funding distribution formula to the Legislative Budget
269Commission for allocating transportation disadvantaged funds the
270commission anticipates receiving from the General Appropriations
271Act; authorizing the Legislative Budget Commission to approve,
272reject, or modify the proposed allocation formula; requiring the
273commission to detail the expected allocation of funding to each
274county; prohibiting the commission from altering the
275distribution schedule without the approval of the Legislative
276Budget Commission except in the case of a disaster; amending s.
277427.013, F.S.; requiring the commission to develop an allocation
278methodology to equitably distribute transportation funds under
279the control of the commission to counties, community
280transportation coordinators, or other entities providing
281transportation disadvantaged services; providing an effective
282date.


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