Senate Bill sb3076
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Florida Senate - 2007 (NP) SR 3076
By Senators Wilson, Joyner, Bullard, Dawson, Siplin, Hill and
Lawson
33-2625B-07
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recommending the formation of
3 Local Councils on the Social Status of Black
4 Men and Boys.
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6 WHEREAS, the 2006 Florida Legislature passed and the
7 Governor signed into law a bill creating the Council on the
8 Social Status of Black Men and Boys that is administratively
9 placed in the office of the Attorney General, and
10 WHEREAS, the council is required to make a systematic
11 study of conditions and address the disparities affecting
12 Black males within the state, including the homicide rates,
13 arrest and incarceration rates, poverty, violence, drug abuse,
14 death rates, disparate annual income levels, school
15 performance in all grades, including postsecondary grades, and
16 health issues, and
17 WHEREAS, the initial council report to the Florida
18 Legislature is due December 15, 2007, and members are charged
19 with proposing measures to alleviate and correct the
20 underlying causes of conditions affecting Black Men and Boys,
21 and
22 WHEREAS, Black Men and Boys are disproportionately
23 represented in Florida's correctional facilities, with 84,901
24 inmates in the Florida Prison System according to 2005
25 statistics from the Department of Corrections, where Black
26 inmates in the Florida Prison System accounted for 51 percent
27 of all incarcerated males, and
28 WHEREAS, the Department of Education's dropout rates
29 reflect that Black students who account for 25 percent of the
30 total students enrolled in grades 9-12 in 2004-2005 (899,353),
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Florida Senate - 2007 (NP) SR 3076
33-2625B-07
1 accounted for 32 percent (9,167) of the students who were
2 counted as dropouts that year, and
3 WHEREAS, the 2000 census summary reports that the
4 median income for Black males age 15 and older was $18,601
5 compared to $27,763 for White males; and for full-time,
6 year-round workers, the median income was $22,364 for Black
7 males and $36,198 for White males, and
8 WHEREAS, in 2004, the Department of Health reported
9 that 9,400 Black males died in Florida where the life
10 expectancy for non-White males was 3.9 years less than for
11 White males, and that its HIV rate for Black males was 46.4
12 per 100,000 in 2004, and
13 WHEREAS, each local council shall collaborate with and
14 advise the state council when it has organized and elected
15 officers, and shall channel suggestions pertinent to its
16 region in an effort to alleviate and correct the underlying
17 causes of the conditions described, and find solutions that
18 can be implemented, NOW, THEREFORE,
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20 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
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22 That counties and local municipalities or both together
23 may form Local Councils on the Social Status of Black Men and
24 Boys by forming partnerships that may vary in number and
25 composition so as to reflect the area's resources. The local
26 council should include representatives from the Department of
27 Children and Family Services, the county commission, city
28 council, school districts, public defender's office, state
29 attorney's office, NAACP, Urban League, local mentoring
30 organizations, fraternities, faith-based organizations, the
31 business community, Parent Teacher Associations, sports
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Florida Senate - 2007 (NP) SR 3076
33-2625B-07
1 leagues, clinical psychiatrists, psychologists, or
2 sociologists, and other interested parties.
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