| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to military personnel on duty; creating |
| 3 | the Citizen Soldier Matching Grant Program within the |
| 4 | Agency for Workforce Innovation; providing for matching |
| 5 | grants to be awarded to private sector employers that |
| 6 | provide wages to employees serving in the United States |
| 7 | Armed Forces Reserves or the Florida National Guard while |
| 8 | those employees are on federal active duty; providing |
| 9 | eligibility requirements for grant recipients; directing |
| 10 | the Agency for Workforce Innovation to develop a plan to |
| 11 | administer the application and payment procedures for the |
| 12 | matching grants; providing for the grant program to be |
| 13 | funded by legislative appropriations; providing an |
| 14 | effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. Citizen Soldier Matching Grant Program.--The |
| 19 | Agency for Workforce Innovation shall establish a matching grant |
| 20 | program to award matching grants to private sector employers in |
| 21 | this state that provide wages to employees serving in the United |
| 22 | States Armed Forces Reserves or the Florida National Guard while |
| 23 | those employees are on federal active duty. A grant may not be |
| 24 | provided for federal active duty served before January 1, 2005. |
| 25 | Each grant shall be awarded to reimburse the employer for not |
| 26 | more than one-half of the monthly wages paid to an employee who |
| 27 | is a resident of this state for the actual period of federal |
| 28 | active duty. The monthly grant per employee may not exceed one- |
| 29 | half of the difference between the amount of monthly wages paid |
| 30 | by the employer to the employee at the level paid before the |
| 31 | date the employee was called to federal active duty and the |
| 32 | amount of the employee's active duty base pay and benefit |
| 33 | package. The agency shall develop a plan, subject to the notice, |
| 34 | review, and objection procedures of s. 216.177, Florida |
| 35 | Statutes, to administer the application and payment procedures |
| 36 | for the matching grant program. The matching grant program shall |
| 37 | be funded by legislative appropriations. |
| 38 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |