HB 1391

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the North Broward Hospital District,
3	Broward County; amending chapter 2006-347; Laws of
4	Florida; providing for a President/Chief Executive Officer
5	and providing powers of such officer; providing
6	legislative findings; providing for a noninterference
7	clause; providing for malfeasance; providing for rules of
8	procedures; providing for a code of conduct and ethics;
9	providing severability; providing an effective date.
10
11	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13	Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 4 and section 5 of
14	section 3 of chapter 2006-347, Laws of Florida, are amended to
15	read:
16	Section 4.  Powers of board of commissioners generally.--
17	(1)  The Board of Commissioners of the North Broward
18	Hospital District shall have all the powers of a body corporate,
19	including the power to sue and be sued under the name of the
20	North Broward Hospital District; to contract and be contracted
21	with; to adopt and use a common seal and to alter the same at
22	pleasure; to acquire, purchase, hold, lease as lessee or lessor,
23	and convey such real and personal property as said board may
24	deem proper or expedient to carry out the purposes of this act
25	(any lease of real or personal property entered into by the
26	board of commissioners shall be for such terms as the board of
27	commissioners determines is in the best interest of the
28	district); to appoint and employ a President/Chief Executive
29	Officer (CEO) superintendent and such other agents and employees
30	as said board may deem advisable; to borrow money, incur
31	indebtedness, and issue notes, revenue certificates, bonds, and
32	other evidences of indebtedness of said district; to establish
33	and support subsidiary or affiliate organizations to assist the
34	district in fulfilling its declared public purpose of providing
35	for the health care needs of the people of the district and, to
36	the extent permitted by the State Constitution, to support not-
37	for-profit organizations that operate primarily within the
38	district, as well as elsewhere, and that have as their purposes
39	the health care needs of the people of the district by means of
40	nominal interest loans of funds, nominal rent leases of real or
41	personal property, gifts and grants of funds, or guaranties of
42	indebtedness of such subsidiaries, affiliates, and not-for-
43	profit organizations (any such support of a subsidiary or
44	affiliate corporation or nonaffiliated, not-for-profit
45	corporation is hereby found and declared to be a public purpose
46	and necessary for the preservation of the public health and for
47	public use and for the welfare of the district and inhabitants
48	thereof); to the extent permitted by the State Constitution, to
49	participate as a shareholder in a corporation, or as a joint
50	venture in a joint venture, which provides health care or
51	engages in activities related thereto, to provide debt or equity
52	financing for the activities of such corporations or joint
53	ventures, and to utilize, for any lawful purpose, the assets and
54	resources of the district to the extent not needed for health
55	care and related activities; and to carry out the provisions of
56	this charter in the manner hereinafter provided. Said board of
57	commissioners, pursuant to chapter 218, Florida Statutes, is
58	authorized and empowered, as the board of a special tax district
59	of the state, to invest district "surplus funds," as defined in
60	that chapter, in such a manner as allowed under section 218.415
61	Florida Statutes, or by any general law amending or superseding
62	section 218.415, Florida Statutes. The board of commissioners
63	shall also have the power to delegate its authority to invest
64	these surplus funds, as outlined above, to a state or national
65	banking organization acting pursuant to a written trust
66	agreement as a trustee of district funds, provided that such
67	delegation is made in writing by the board of commissioners.
68	Section 5.  Board of commissioners; rules of procedure;
69	organization; noninterference; code of conduct and ethics.--
70	(1)  Four commissioners shall constitute a quorum, and a
71	vote of at least three commissioners shall be necessary to the
72	transaction of any business of the district. The commissioners
73	shall cause true and accurate minutes and records to be kept of
74	all business transacted by them and shall keep full, true, and
75	complete books of account and minutes, which minutes, records,
76	and books of account shall, subject to the provisions of section
77	395.3035, Florida Statutes, at all reasonable times be open and
78	subject to the inspection of inhabitants of said district, and
79	any person desiring to do so may, subject to the provisions of
80	section 395.3035, Florida Statutes, make or procure copy of said
81	minutes, records, books of account, or such portions thereof as
82	he or she may desire.
83	(2)  It is the finding of the Legislature that it is not in
84	the public interest for any member of the board of commissioners
85	to operate in the perceived role of management while
86	simultaneously exercising the charter oversight duties
87	contemplated by creation of this special act. It is therefore
88	the intent of the Legislature that the board of commissioners
89	only exercise its oversight function as a whole body and not
90	through the actions of any individual commissioner. It is also
91	the intent of the Legislature that there be an explicit
92	segregation of duties between the functions of operational
93	management of the district and oversight by the board of
94	commissioners. Except for the purposes of inquiry or
95	information, a member of the board of commissioners shall not
96	give direction to or interfere with any employee, officer, or
97	agent under the direct or indirect supervision of the
98	President/CEO. Such action shall be malfeasance within the
99	meaning of Art. IV, s. 7(a) of the Florida Constitution. Nothing
100	contained herein shall prevent a commissioner from referring a
101	citizen complaint to the President/CEO or to the board of
102	commissioners or providing information about any issue to the
103	President/CEO or to the board of commissioners.
104	(3)(a)  The board of commissioners shall adopt a code of
105	conduct and ethics that each member must acknowledge receipt of
106	and agree to comply with.  Failure to comply with the provisions
107	of the code of conduct and ethics shall be malfeasance within
108	the meaning of Art. IV, s. 7(a) of the Florida Constitution.
109	(b)  The code of conduct and ethics shall include, at a
110	minimum, provisions addressing:
111	1.  Definition of conflict of interest and proper
112	disclosure.
113	2.  Appropriate procedures for disclosure if any outside
114	entity with a vendor or contractual relationship with the
115	district, or seeking a vendor or contractual relationship with
116	the district, contacts a member of the board of commissioners
117	with the intent to influence the decision of the board of
118	commissioners.
119	3.  Policies addressing the acceptance of gifts by members
120	of the board of commissioners.
121	4.  The responsibility of the board of commissioners for
122	appropriate implementation of the district ethics and compliance
123	program applicable to all financial and operational risks of the
124	district.
125	5.  Annual board education requirements.
126	Section 2.  Severability.--Any provision of this act which
127	for any reason may be held or declared invalid or unenforceable
128	may be eliminated, and the remaining portion or portions thereof
129	shall remain in full force and be valid and enforceable as if
130	such invalid or unenforceable provision had not been
131	incorporated therein.
132	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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