Senate Bill sb1062c1

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    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 1062

    By the Committee on Transportation and Economic Development
    Appropriations; and Senator Diaz de la Portilla




    606-1843-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to coordinated 311 nonemergency

  3         and other governmental services telephone

  4         systems; creating s. 365.180, F.S.; defining

  5         the term "coordinated 311 nonemergency and

  6         other governmental services telephone system";

  7         authorizing the Department of Community Affairs

  8         to accept and administer funds to provide

  9         grants for coordinated 311 nonemergency and

10         other governmental services systems;

11         authorizing counties and municipalities to

12         apply for grants; requiring a county or

13         municipality to provide matching funds;

14         requiring the department to award grants in

15         order of priority; providing for certain

16         limitations on grant funds received;

17         authorizing the department to adopt rules;

18         providing for the award of a grant to be

19         contingent upon appropriation or the

20         availability of funds from private sources;

21         providing an effective date.

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23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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25         Section 1.  Section 365.180, Florida Statutes, is

26  created to read:

27         365.180  Grant program for a coordinated 311

28  nonemergency and other governmental services telephone system;

29  grants for operation; funding; approval; allocation.--

30         (1)  The Legislature finds that a 311 telephone system

31  for nonemergency and other governmental services may reduce

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    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 1062
    606-1843-06




 1  the volume of nonemergency calls to 911 Public Safety

 2  Answering Points, particularly in times of a disaster. The

 3  Legislature further finds that 311 systems improve public

 4  access to government by providing seamless access to various

 5  governmental entities, enhancing coordination among state and

 6  various local jurisdictions, and improving service delivery.

 7         (2)  As used in this section, the term "coordinated 311

 8  nonemergency and other governmental services telephone system"

 9  means a 311 system that is multijurisdictional and designed to

10  provide seamless access to nonemergency and other governmental

11  services.

12         (3)  The Department of Community Affairs may accept and

13  administer funds that are appropriated to it to award grants

14  to counties and municipalities to operate a coordinated 311

15  nonemergency and other governmental services telephone system.

16         (4)  A county or municipality may apply to the

17  department for a grant of state funds to implement and operate

18  a coordinated 311 nonemergency and other governmental services

19  telephone system.

20         (5)  A grant awarded under this section must be matched

21  by a contribution from the county or municipality in an amount

22  equal to $1 for each $1 awarded under this section.

23         (6)  The department shall review each grant application

24  that is submitted under subsection (4) and shall annually

25  submit to the secretary a list of all applications received.

26  Included with the list of applicants shall be a list of the

27  systems that staff of the department recommend for approval,

28  arranged in order of priority. The department shall allocate

29  grants only to applicants that are approved by the secretary

30  and for which funds are appropriated by the Legislature.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 1062
    606-1843-06




 1         (7)  The annual amount of any one grant made under this

 2  section may not exceed the lesser of $2.5 million or 50

 3  percent of the total annual cost of operating the coordinated

 4  311 nonemergency and other governmental services telephone

 5  system. The total amount of the grants awarded to a

 6  coordinated 311 nonemergency and other governmental services

 7  telephone system in a 5-year period may not exceed $10

 8  million.

 9         (8)  Each 311 system receiving state matching funds

10  shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the

11  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by

12  December 15, 2007, detailing how the funds appropriated for

13  the 311 system were spent.

14         (9)  The Department of Community Affairs may adopt

15  rules for administering this section, including rules for the

16  criteria to be applied in order to evaluate applications for

17  grants. The application evaluation criteria shall, at a

18  minimum, include the following:

19         (a)  The population of the applicant county or

20  municipality;

21         (b)  Prior establishment of a 311 number by the

22  applicant county or municipality;

23         (c)  The interoperability between the proposed 311

24  system and the existing 911 Public Safety Answering Points

25  within the applicant county or municipality;

26         (d)  The commitment of funds by the applicant county or

27  municipality beyond the minimum match contribution; and

28         (e)  The long-range plan for sustainability of the

29  proposed 311 system submitted by the applicant county or

30  municipality.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2006                           CS for SB 1062
    606-1843-06




 1         Section 2.  Grants for the coordinated 311 nonemergency

 2  and other governmental services telephone system grant program

 3  within the Department of Community Affairs may be awarded to

 4  the extent funds are appropriated in law or made available

 5  from private sources.

 6         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

 7  

 8          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 9                         Senate Bill 1062

10                                 

11  The committee substitute for Senate Bill 1062 removes the $10
    million general revenue appropriation and authorizes spending
12  on the Coordinated 311 Nonemergency and Other Governmental
    Services Telephone Systems Matching Grant Program contingent
13  upon an appropriation in law or upon receipt of funds from
    private sources.  The committee substitute also specifies
14  certain criteria to be used by the department in the
    evaluation of the matching grant applications.
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