Senate Bill sb1212c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1212
By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Wise
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Corporate Income Tax
3 Credit Scholarship Program; amending s.
4 220.187, F.S.; providing legislative findings;
5 revising program purposes; providing a
6 definition; providing that specified students
7 who have been in Department of Juvenile Justice
8 education programs or who are placed in foster
9 care are eligible for participation in the
10 scholarship program; revising income criteria
11 for continuation of a scholarship for students
12 placed in foster care; providing an effective
13 date.
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15 WHEREAS, the Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship
16 Program has produced substantial cost savings by relieving the
17 state of the expense of educating program participants in
18 public schools at a cost in foregone tax revenue that is
19 substantially less than the per-pupil cost of educating
20 children in public schools, and
21 WHEREAS, the Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship
22 Program has relieved public school class size by creating new
23 classroom spaces in the public schools at no cost to the
24 taxpayers, and
25 WHEREAS, empirical evidence is clear, overwhelming, and
26 uncontroverted that expanding educational options produces
27 improved educational outcomes, both for participating children
28 and for public schools that are exposed to healthy competition
29 as a result, and no study has ever documented any harm to
30 public schools as a result of expanding educational options
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1212
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1 through programs like Corporate Tax Credit Scholarships, NOW,
2 THEREFORE,
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4 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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6 Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), and (3) of section
7 220.187, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
8 220.187 Credits for contributions to nonprofit
9 scholarship-funding organizations.--
10 (1) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.--
11 (a) The Legislature finds that:
12 1. It has the inherent power to determine subjects of
13 taxation for general or particular public purposes.
14 2. Expanding educational opportunities and improving
15 the quality of educational services within the state are valid
16 public purposes that the Legislature may promote using its
17 sovereign power to determine subjects of taxation and
18 exemptions from taxation.
19 3. Ensuring that all parents, regardless of means, may
20 exercise and enjoy their basic right to educate their children
21 as they see fit is a valid public purpose that the Legislature
22 may promote using its sovereign power to determine subjects of
23 taxation and exemptions from taxation.
24 4. The existence of programs that provide expanded
25 educational opportunities in this state has not been shown to
26 reduce funding to or otherwise harm public schools within the
27 state, and, to the contrary, per-pupil funding in public
28 schools has risen each year since the first inception of those
29 programs in 1999.
30 5. It is the Legislature's judgment that expanded
31 educational opportunities and the healthy competition they
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1212
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1 promote are critical to improving the quality of education in
2 the state and to ensuring that all children receive the
3 high-quality education to which they are entitled.
4 (b) The purpose of this section is to:
5 1.(a) Enable taxpayers to make Encourage private,
6 voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding
7 organizations in order to promote the general welfare.
8 2. Provide taxpayers who wish to help parents having
9 limited resources exercise their basic right to educate their
10 children as they see fit with a means to do so.
11 3.(b) Promote the general welfare by expanding Expand
12 educational opportunities for children of families that have
13 limited financial resources.
14 4.(c) Enable children in this state to achieve a
15 greater level of excellence in their education.
16 5. Improve the quality of education in this state,
17 both by expanding educational opportunities for children and
18 by creating incentives for schools to achieve excellence.
19 (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
20 (a) "Department" means the Department of Revenue.
21 (b) "Eligible contribution" means a monetary
22 contribution from a taxpayer, subject to the restrictions
23 provided in this section, to an eligible nonprofit
24 scholarship-funding organization. The taxpayer making the
25 contribution may not designate a specific child as the
26 beneficiary of the contribution.
27 (c) "Eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
28 organization" means a charitable organization that:
29 1. Is exempt from federal income tax pursuant to s.
30 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1212
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1 2. Is a Florida entity formed under chapter 607,
2 chapter 608, or chapter 617 and whose principal office is
3 located in the state; and
4 3. Complies with the provisions of subsection (6).
5 (d) "Eligible private school" means a private school,
6 as defined in s. 1002.01(2), located in Florida which offers
7 an education to students in any grades K-12 and that meets the
8 requirements in subsection (8).
9 (e) "Owner or operator" includes:
10 1. An owner, president, officer, or director of an
11 eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization or a
12 person with equivalent decisionmaking authority over an
13 eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization.
14 2. An owner, operator, superintendent, or principal of
15 an eligible private school or a person with equivalent
16 decisionmaking authority over an eligible private school.
17 (f) "Parent" has the same meaning as in s. 1000.21.
18 (3) PROGRAM; SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The Corporate
19 Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program is established. A
20 student is eligible for a corporate income tax credit
21 scholarship if the student qualifies for free or reduced-price
22 school lunches under the National School Lunch Act and:
23 (a) Was counted as a full-time equivalent student
24 during the previous state fiscal year for purposes of state
25 per-student funding;
26 (b) Was counted as a full-time equivalent student at
27 any time during the previous state fiscal year in a Department
28 of Juvenile Justice educational program under s. 1003.52 for
29 purposes of state per-student funding;
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1212
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1 (c)(b) Received a scholarship from an eligible
2 nonprofit scholarship-funding organization or from the State
3 of Florida during the previous school year; or
4 (d)(c) Is eligible to enter kindergarten or first
5 grade; or.
6 (e) Has been placed in foster care as defined in s.
7 39.01.
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9 Contingent upon available funds, a student may continue in the
10 scholarship program as long as the student's family income
11 level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty
12 level. Family income for purposes of a student described in
13 paragraph (e) shall consist only of the income that may be
14 considered in determining whether he or she qualifies for free
15 or reduced-price school lunches under the National School
16 Lunch Act.
17 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1212
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 1212
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4 The committee substitute:
5 -Includes legislative findings related to the Corporate Income
Tax Credit (CTC) Program;
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-Eliminates the cap on the number of foster care students who
7 may be eligible for the CTC program;
8 -Defines family income for foster care students as the income
that is considered in determining whether the students qualify
9 for free or reduced-price meals under the National School
Lunch Act;
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-Expands eligibility for the CTC program to include students
11 who were counted as full-time equivalent students at any time
during the previous state fiscal year in a Department of
12 Juvenile Justice educational program under s. 1003.52, F.S.,
for purposes of state per-student funding; and
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-Defines the term "parent" for purposes of a child's
14 participation in the CTC program.
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