(LATE FILED)Amendment
Bill No. 1475
Amendment No. 331691
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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1Representative(s) Russell offered the following:
2
3     Amendment (with title amendment)
4     Remove everything after the enacting clause and insert:
5     Section 1.  Section 427.012, Florida Statutes, is amended
6to read:
7     427.012  The Commission for the Transportation
8Disadvantaged.--There is created the Commission for the
9Transportation Disadvantaged in the Department of
10Transportation.
11     (1)  The commission shall consist of seven members, all of
12whom shall be appointed by the Governor.
13     (a)  Five of the appointed members must have significant
14experience in the operation of a business and, when making an
15appointment, it is the intent of the Legislature that the
16Governor select persons who reflect the broad diversity of the
17business community in this state, as well as the racial, ethnic,
18and gender diversity of the population of this state.
19     (b)  Two of the members appointed must be persons with a
20disability who use the transportation disadvantaged system.
21     (c)  Each member of the commission shall represent the
22needs of the transportation disadvantaged throughout the state.
23A member may not subordinate the needs of the transportation
24disadvantaged in general in order to favor the needs of others
25residing in a specific location in the state.
26     (d)  Each person appointed to the board of the commission
27shall serve a term of 4 years. A member may be reappointed for
28one additional 4-year term.
29     (e)  A member must be a citizen of the state and a
30registered voter.
31     (f)  The Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of
32Children and Family Services, the director of Workforce
33Innovation, the executive director of the Department of
34Veterans' Affairs, the Secretary of Elderly Affairs, the
35Secretary of Health Care Administration, the director of the
36Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and an elected official of
37local government who is appointed by the Governor, or a designee
38of each, respectively, shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting
39advisors to the commission.
40     (g)  A person appointed to the board of the commission may
41not, within the 5 years immediately before the appointment, or
42during his or her term on the board, has or had a financial
43relationship with, or represents or represented as a lobbyist,
44as defined in s. 11.045:
45     1.  A transportation operator;
46     2.  A community transportation coordinator;
47     3.  A metropolitan planning organization;
48     4.  A designated official planning agency;
49     5.  A purchaser agency;
50     6.  A local coordinating board;
51     7.  A broker of transportation; or
52     8.  A provider of transportation services. the following
53members:
54     (a)  The secretary of the Department of Transportation or
55the secretary's designee.
56     (b)  The secretary of the Department of Children and Family
57Services or the secretary's designee.
58     (c)  The Commissioner of Education or the commissioner's
59designee.
60     (d)  The secretary of the Department of Labor and
61Employment Security or the secretary's designee.
62     (e)  The executive director of the Department of Veterans'
63Affairs or the executive director's designee.
64     (f)  The secretary of the Department of Elderly Affairs or
65the secretary's designee.
66     (g)  The director of the Agency for Health Care
67Administration or the director's designee.
68     (h)  A representative of the Florida Association for
69Community Action, who shall serve at the pleasure of that
70association.
71     (i)  A representative of the Florida Transit Association,
72who shall serve at the pleasure of that association.
73     (j)  A person over the age of 60 who is a member of a
74recognized statewide organization representing elderly
75Floridians. Such person shall be appointed by the Governor to
76represent elderly Floridians and shall be appointed to serve a
77term of 4 years.
78     (k)  A handicapped person who is a member of a recognized
79statewide organization representing handicapped Floridians. Such
80person shall be appointed by the Governor to represent
81handicapped Floridians and shall be appointed to serve a term of
824 years.
83     (l)  Two citizen advocate representatives who shall be
84appointed by the Governor for a term of 4 years, one
85representing rural citizens and one representing urban citizens.
86     (m)  A representative of the community transportation
87coordinators. Such person shall be appointed by the Governor to
88represent all community transportation coordinators and shall be
89appointed to serve a term of 4 years.
90     (n)  One member of the Early Childhood Council. Such person
91shall be appointed by the Governor to represent maternal and
92child health care providers and shall be appointed to serve a
93term of 4 years.
94     (o)  Two representatives of current private for-profit or
95private not-for-profit transportation operators each of which
96have a minimum of 5 years of continuous experience operating a
97broad-based system of ambulatory and wheelchair/stretcher type
98transportation, utilizing not less than 50 vehicles and
99including dispatch and scheduling responsibilities. Such persons
100shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture to serve a
101term of 4 years.
102     (p)  Four representatives of current private for-profit or
103private not-for-profit transportation operators, each of which
104having a minimum of 5 years of continuous experience operating a
105broad-based system of ambulatory and wheelchair or stretcher-
106type transportation, utilizing not less than 50 vehicles, and
107including dispatch and scheduling responsibilities. Such persons
108shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture to serve a
109term of 4 years.
110     (q)  Six citizens representing the nontransportation
111business community of the state, three members appointed by the
112President of the Senate and three members appointed by the
113Speaker of the House of Representatives.
114     (2)  The chairperson shall be appointed by the Governor and
115vice chairperson of the commission shall be elected annually
116from the membership of the commission.
117     (3)  Members of the commission shall serve without
118compensation but shall be allowed per diem and travel expenses,
119as provided in s. 112.061.
120     (4)  The commission shall meet at least quarterly, or more
121frequently at the call of the chairperson. Five Nine members of
122the commission constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of the
123members present is necessary for any action taken by the
124commission.
125     (5)  The Governor may remove any member of the commission
126for cause.
127     (6)  Each candidate for appointment to the commission must,
128before accepting the appointment, undergo background screening
129under s. 435.04, by filing with the Department of Transportation
130a complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law
131enforcement agency. The fingerprints must be submitted to the
132Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and that
133department shall submit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau
134of Investigation for federal processing. The Department of
135Transportation shall screen the background results and inform
136the commission if any candidate failed to meet level 2 screening
137standards. A candidate found to have failed to meet level 2
138screening standards may not be appointed to the commission. The
139cost of the background screening may be borne by the Department
140of Transportation or the candidate for appointment to the
141commission.
142     (7)(6)  The commission shall appoint an executive director
143who shall serve under the direction, supervision, and control of
144the commission. The executive director, with the consent of the
145commission, shall employ such personnel as may be necessary to
146perform adequately the functions of the commission within
147budgetary limitations. All employees of the commission are
148exempt from the Career Service System.
149     (8)  The commission shall appoint at least four technical
150advisory committees to advise the commission on issues of
151importance to the state and to regions of the state.
152     (a)  One technical advisory committee shall provide
153information, advice, and direction to the commission on the
154coordination of services for the transportation disadvantaged.
155Its membership shall include, but need not be limited to,
156representatives of community transportation coordinators and
157private paratransit providers.
158     (b)  One technical advisory committee shall provide
159information, advice, and direction to the commission on the
160transportation planning issues affecting the transportation
161disadvantaged program. Its membership may include, but need not
162be limited to, representatives of metropolitan planning
163organizations and regional planning councils.
164     (c)  One technical advisory committee shall provide
165information, advice, and direction to the commission on
166business-related issues affecting the transportation
167disadvantaged program. Its membership may include, but need not
168be limited to, persons with expertise in insurance, marketing,
169economic development, or financial planning.
170     (d)  One technical advisory committee shall be a forum for
171users of the transportation disadvantaged system. Its membership
172may include, but need not be limited to, direct users of the
173system and representatives of the users, such as parents and
174other relatives, guardians, and service professionals who tend
175to the needs of persons who are transportationally
176disadvantaged.
177     (e)  The commission may establish the size, composition,
178and focus of any technical advisory committee it creates. A
179member appointed to a technical advisory committee shall serve
180without compensation and without per diem.
181     (9)(7)  The commission is assigned to the office of the
182secretary of the Department of Transportation for administrative
183and fiscal accountability purposes, but it shall otherwise
184function independently of the control, supervision, and
185direction of the department.
186     (10)(8)  The commission shall develop a budget under
187pursuant to chapter 216. The budget is not subject to change by
188the department staff after it has been approved by the
189commission, but it shall be transmitted to the Governor, as head
190of the department, along with the budget of the department.
191     (11)(a)  No later than 30 days after the Governor issues
192his executive budget recommendations, the commission shall
193present to the Legislative Budget Commission a proposed formula
194for allocating the transportation funds that the commission
195anticipates receiving from the General Appropriations Act for
196the next fiscal year. The document must specifically detail the
197amount of funding expected to be allocated to each county for
198transportation disadvantaged services. The Legislative Budget
199Commission shall approve, reject, or request modifications to
200the formula no later than 60 days after receiving the proposed
201funding allocation formula.
202     (b)  Upon the General Appropriations Act becoming law, the
203commission shall present to the Legislative Budget Commission
204the county distribution schedule, which is the approved
205allocation formula applied to the funds allocated to the
206commission.
207     (c)  The commission may not change the transportation
208disadvantaged distribution schedule without the permission of
209the Legislative Budget Commission, except in the case of a
210disaster as defined in chapter 252.
211     Section 2.  Subsection (12) of section 427.013, Florida
212Statutes, is amended to read:
213     427.013  The Commission for the Transportation
214Disadvantaged; purpose and responsibilities.--The purpose of the
215commission is to accomplish the coordination of transportation
216services provided to the transportation disadvantaged. The goal
217of this coordination shall be to assure the cost-effective
218provision of transportation by qualified community
219transportation coordinators or transportation operators for the
220transportation disadvantaged without any bias or presumption in
221favor of multioperator systems or not-for-profit transportation
222operators over single operator systems or for-profit
223transportation operators. In carrying out this purpose, the
224commission shall:
225     (12)(a)  Have the authority to apply for and accept funds,
226grants, gifts, and services from the Federal Government, state
227government, local governments, or private funding sources.
228Applications by the commission for local government funds shall
229be coordinated through the appropriate coordinating board. Funds
230acquired or accepted under this subsection shall be administered
231by the commission and shall be used to carry out the
232commission's responsibilities.
233     (b)  Develop an allocation methodology or formula that
234equitably distributes the funds under the control of the
235commission to compensate counties, community transportation
236coordinators, or other entities providing transportation
237disadvantaged services. The formula shall take into account not
238only the actual costs of each transportation disadvantaged trip
239but also those efficiencies that a provider might adopt to
240reduce costs, including cost efficiencies of trips when compared
241to the local cost of transporting the general public.
242     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.
243
244
245================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =================
246And the title is amended as follows:
247          Delete everything before the enacting clause and
248insert:
249
A bill to be entitled
250An act relating to the Commission for the Transportation
251Disadvantaged; amending s. 427.012, F.S.; revising the
252membership of the commission; establishing term limits;
253directing each member of the commission to serve without
254regional bias; providing qualifications for appointment to
255membership on the commission; providing for nonvoting
256advisory members; requiring candidates for appointment to
257the commission to meet certain standards for background
258screening; requiring the Department of Transportation to
259inform the commission if a candidate fails to meet the
260screening standards; providing that costs of screening be
261borne by the department or the candidate for appointment;
262authorizing the commission to appoint technical advisory
263committees; requiring the commission to present a proposed
264funding distribution formula to the Legislative Budget
265Commission for allocating transportation disadvantaged
266funds the commission anticipates receiving from the
267General Appropriations Act; authorizing the Legislative
268Budget Commission to approve, reject, or modify the
269proposed allocation formula; requiring the commission to
270detail the expected allocation of funding to each county;
271prohibiting the commission from altering the distribution
272schedule without the approval of the Legislative Budget
273Commission except in the case of a disaster; amending s.
274427.013, F.S.; requiring the commission to develop an
275allocation methodology to equitably distribute
276transportation funds under the control of the commission
277to counties, community transportation coordinators, or
278other entities providing transportation disadvantaged
279services; providing an effective date.


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