| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the corporate income tax; amending s. |
| 3 | 220.02, F.S.; revising the list of application of |
| 4 | corporate income tax credits; creating s. 220.1875, F.S.; |
| 5 | providing a purpose; providing definitions; providing for |
| 6 | a corporate income tax credit for contributions for |
| 7 | medical care for indigent persons; providing for |
| 8 | contributions to the Health Care Clinic Indigent Care |
| 9 | Trust Fund for certain purposes; providing requirements, |
| 10 | procedures, and limitations; providing an aggregate limit |
| 11 | for the fund; providing for disbursements from the fund to |
| 12 | certain health care clinics; providing requirements and |
| 13 | limitations; requiring the Department of Revenue to adopt |
| 14 | rules; providing for administration by a board of |
| 15 | directors; providing for appointing board members; |
| 16 | providing for terms and expenses; providing powers and |
| 17 | duties of the board; requiring the board to report |
| 18 | annually to the Governor; providing a contingent effective |
| 19 | date. |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 22 |
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| 23 | Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 220.02, Florida |
| 24 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 25 | 220.02 Legislative intent.-- |
| 26 | (8) It is the intent of the Legislature that credits |
| 27 | against either the corporate income tax or the franchise tax be |
| 28 | applied in the following order: those enumerated in s. 631.828, |
| 29 | those enumerated in s. 220.191, those enumerated in s. 220.181, |
| 30 | those enumerated in s. 220.183, those enumerated in s. 220.182, |
| 31 | those enumerated in s. 220.1895, those enumerated in s. 221.02, |
| 32 | those enumerated in s. 220.184, those enumerated in s. 220.186, |
| 33 | those enumerated in s. 220.1845, those enumerated in s. 220.19, |
| 34 | those enumerated in s. 220.185, those enumerated in s. 220.187, |
| 35 | those enumerated in s. 220.192, and those enumerated in s. |
| 36 | 220.193, and those enumerated in s. 220.1875. |
| 37 | Section 2. Section 220.1875, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 38 | to read: |
| 39 | 220.1875 Credits for contributions for medical care for |
| 40 | indigent persons.-- |
| 41 | (1) PURPOSE.--The purpose of this section is to provide |
| 42 | corporate taxpayers a credit against corporate income taxes for |
| 43 | contributions for qualifying health care clinics to provide |
| 44 | medical care for indigent persons and to provide relief to |
| 45 | qualifying health care clinics who provide a disproportionate |
| 46 | share of medical care for indigent persons. |
| 47 | (2) DEFINITIONS.--For purposes of this section: |
| 48 | (a) "Board" means the board of directors of the fund. |
| 49 | (b) "Department" means the Department of Revenue. |
| 50 | (c) "Fund" means the Health Care Clinic Indigent Care |
| 51 | Trust Fund created in s. 220.1876. |
| 52 | (d) "Health care clinic" means a clinic as defined in s. |
| 53 | 400.9905 or a Federal Qualified Health Center as defined in 42 |
| 54 | U.S.C. s. 1395x. |
| 55 | (e) "Charity care" means medical care provided to a person |
| 56 | who has insufficient resources or assets to pay for such care |
| 57 | without using resources that are required to meet the person's |
| 58 | basic need for food, shelter, and clothing. A person may not be |
| 59 | considered eligible for charity care if the person's family |
| 60 | income, for the 12 months preceding the determination of his or |
| 61 | her financial status by the health care clinic, exceeds 150 |
| 62 | percent of the federal poverty guidelines, unless the amount of |
| 63 | health care charges due from the person exceeds 25 percent of |
| 64 | annual family income. However, in no case shall medical care |
| 65 | provided by a health care clinic be considered charity care when |
| 66 | provided for a person whose family income exceeds four times the |
| 67 | federal poverty level for a family of four. |
| 68 | (3) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FUND; TAX CREDIT.-- |
| 69 | (a) A corporate taxpayer may make contributions to the |
| 70 | fund at any time by submitting the contribution to the |
| 71 | department for deposit into the fund, thereby becoming eligible |
| 72 | for credits against the corporation's state corporate income tax |
| 73 | liabilities as provided in paragraph (b). The department shall |
| 74 | account for such contributions by each corporate taxpayer and |
| 75 | may require the filing of an approved form together with the |
| 76 | contribution for that purpose. |
| 77 | (b) A credit of 100 percent of an eligible contribution is |
| 78 | allowed against any tax due for a taxable year under this |
| 79 | chapter. However, such a credit may not exceed 75 percent of the |
| 80 | tax due under this chapter for the taxable year, after the |
| 81 | application of any other allowable credits by the taxpayer. |
| 82 | (c) If the credit granted pursuant to this section is not |
| 83 | fully used in any single year because of insufficient tax |
| 84 | liability on the part of the corporation, the unused amount may |
| 85 | be carried forward for a period not to exceed 3 years. |
| 86 | (d) A taxpayer who files a consolidated return pursuant to |
| 87 | s. 220.131(1) as a member of an affiliated group may be allowed |
| 88 | the credit on a consolidated return basis; however, the total |
| 89 | credit taken by the affiliated group is subject to the |
| 90 | limitation established under paragraph (b). |
| 91 | (4) FUND AGGREGATE LIMIT.--The fund shall be subject to an |
| 92 | aggregate limit of $50 million. Contributions by corporate |
| 93 | taxpayers to the fund shall be accepted in the order in which |
| 94 | received. If, on any day, a submitted contribution would cause |
| 95 | the fund to exceed its aggregate limit, the department shall |
| 96 | advise the taxpayer submitting the contribution and the taxpayer |
| 97 | may elect to have the contribution returned or for the |
| 98 | department to hold the contribution in a separate special |
| 99 | interest-earning escrow account until such time as disbursements |
| 100 | from the fund allow for deposit of the full amount of the |
| 101 | contribution into the fund. The credit may be taken only after |
| 102 | the contribution is deposited into the fund. |
| 103 | (5) DISBURSEMENTS.-- |
| 104 | (a) A qualifying health care clinic may apply to the board |
| 105 | for disbursement of moneys from the fund for operations, |
| 106 | personnel, and capital improvements. A qualifying health care |
| 107 | clinic is: |
| 108 | 1. An entity that is licensed under part X of chapter 400; |
| 109 | or |
| 110 | 2. A federally qualified health center |
| 111 |
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| 112 | that has provided charity care in an aggregate amount equal to |
| 113 | 50 percent of its total gross revenue in the 12 months preceding |
| 114 | the application and maintains a patient financial responsibility |
| 115 | policy under which a patient's charity care status is confirmed. |
| 116 | (b) The board shall approve qualified applications and |
| 117 | order disbursements to qualifying health care clinics on a |
| 118 | first-come, first-served basis, to the extent of funds |
| 119 | available. The board shall meet on a bimonthly basis for this |
| 120 | purpose or may teleconference if meeting in person is |
| 121 | impracticable. No single health care clinic may receive more |
| 122 | than $2.5 million in total assistance from the fund in a given |
| 123 | fiscal year. Applications received at the end of the fiscal year |
| 124 | shall be carried over and determined in the next fiscal year. |
| 125 | (6) RULEMAKING.--The department, in conjunction with the |
| 126 | board, shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 |
| 127 | necessary to administer this section, including, but not limited |
| 128 | to, rules establishing application forms and procedures for |
| 129 | contributions by corporate taxpayers to the fund, granting the |
| 130 | tax credit, and approving applications for disbursements from |
| 131 | the fund. |
| 132 | (7) BOARD MEMBERS AND APPOINTMENT; POWERS AND DUTIES.-- |
| 133 | (a) The board shall be comprised of nine individuals, |
| 134 | three appointed by the Governor, three appointed by the |
| 135 | President of the Senate, and three appointed by the Speaker of |
| 136 | the House of Representatives, each with relevant experience in |
| 137 | the delivery of health care to indigent persons. Board members |
| 138 | shall elect a chair at the first organizational meeting and |
| 139 | shall elect a new chair annually. However, a board member may be |
| 140 | reelected as chair if the board so determines. Board members |
| 141 | shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed from the |
| 142 | fund for travel-related expenses incurred in meetings to |
| 143 | consider applications from health care clinics. The board may |
| 144 | hire an executive director and administrative staff, whose |
| 145 | salaries shall be paid from the fund. A board member may not |
| 146 | have an ownership interest in a health care clinic or be a |
| 147 | member of the board of directors or an officer of a health care |
| 148 | clinic. The term of a board member shall be 2 years, but a board |
| 149 | member may serve a second consecutive term if reappointed. With |
| 150 | regard to the initial appointees, of each of the three members |
| 151 | appointed by the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the |
| 152 | Speaker of the House of Representatives, one shall be appointed |
| 153 | for a 1-year term, one shall be appointed for a 2-year term, and |
| 154 | one shall be appointed for a 3-year term. Members appointed to |
| 155 | an initial 3-year term may serve a second 2-year term if |
| 156 | reappointed. |
| 157 | (b) The board, with administrative assistance by the |
| 158 | department, shall receive and evaluate applications from |
| 159 | qualifying health care clinics for the disbursement of moneys |
| 160 | from the fund as provided by this section. |
| 161 | (c) By February 1, 2008, the board shall provide the |
| 162 | Governor with an initial report concerning the implementation of |
| 163 | this section. Thereafter, the board shall provide the Governor |
| 164 | with an annual report summarizing the following: |
| 165 | 1. The total annual contributions to the fund. |
| 166 | 2. Annual disbursement of funds to qualifying health care |
| 167 | clinics, identifying each clinic and the amount disbursed to the |
| 168 | clinic. |
| 169 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007, only |
| 170 | if HB 201 or similar legislation is adopted in the same |
| 171 | legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes law. |