HB 975

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to specialty license plates; amending s.
3320.08056, F.S.; establishing annual use fees for the
4Support Our Troops license plate and the Florida NASCAR
5license plate; authorizing placement of a sponsoring
6organization's Internet domain name on specialty license
7plates; requiring the specialty license plate application
8form to provide the applicant the option to instruct the
9Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to provide
10certain information to the sponsoring organization;
11amending s. 320.08058, F.S.; creating the Support Our
12Troops license plate; requiring the use of certain images
13and marks of Support Our Troops, Inc.; providing that the
14right to use a certain mark is reserved to that
15corporation; authorizing that corporation to change the
16design of the Support Our Troops license plate under
17certain circumstances; providing that issuance of the
18Support Our Troops license plate shall not be discontinued
19if the number of registrations falls below a certain
20number; providing for the distribution of use fees
21received from the sale of such plates to Support Our
22Troops, Inc.; creating the Florida NASCAR license plate;
23providing for the distribution of use fees received from
24the sale of such plates to the Florida Sports Foundation,
25the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and
26the NASCAR Foundation; requiring the Florida Sports
27Association to provide for an annual audit to be submitted
28to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development
29for certification to the Auditor General; providing an
30effective date.
31
32     WHEREAS, to create a concrete statement of thanks to our
33troops for their service, civilians stepped forward and founded
34Support Our Troops, Inc., a national nonprofit organization
35based in Florida and dedicated to permanently assisting active
36duty troops and their families, and
37     WHEREAS, through a comprehensive program that enables
38individuals to offer support through multiple charitable
39methodologies, Support Our Troops, Inc., provides the means
40through which individuals may take direct personal financial
41responsibility for their troops and engage in direct financial
42assistance for the troops and their families, and
43     WHEREAS, Support Our Troops, Inc., also provides the means
44through which people may publicly display support for their
45troops, and
46     WHEREAS, the Support Our Troops license plate will serve
47these very important functions and will, by example, encourage
48others to do the same, and
49     WHEREAS, the NASCAR Foundation is committed to helping
50improve the lives of people, including those in need, and
51     WHEREAS, the NASCAR Foundation endeavors to create as many
52avenues as possible through which people can enrich the lives
53of children with chronic and medical conditions or serious
54illnesses, assist children in need, educate and inspire, and
55advance family values among youth, and
56     WHEREAS, the Florida NASCAR license plate will serve these
57very important functions and will, by example, encourage others
58to do the same, NOW, THEREFORE,
59
60Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
61
62     Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 320.08056, Florida
63Statutes, is amended, paragraphs (iii) and (jjj) are added to
64subsection (4), and subsection (11) is added to that section, to
65read:
66     320.08056  Specialty license plates.--
67     (4)  The following license plate annual use fees shall be
68collected for the appropriate specialty license plates:
69     (iii)  Support Our Troops license plate, $25.
70     (jjj)  Florida NASCAR license plate, $25.
71     (6)  Specialty license plates must bear the design required
72by law for the appropriate specialty license plate, and the
73designs and colors must conform to the department's design
74specifications. In addition to a design, the specialty license
75plates may bear the imprint of numerals from 1 to 999,
76inclusive, capital letters "A" through "Z," or a combination
77thereof. The department shall determine the maximum number of
78characters, including both numerals and letters. All specialty
79license plates must be otherwise of the same material and size
80as standard license plates issued for any registration period. A
81specialty license plate may bear an appropriate slogan, emblem,
82or logo in a size and placement that conforms to the
83department's design specifications. The sponsoring
84organization's Internet domain name may appear on the plate.
85     (11)  The application form for a specialty license plate
86shall provide the applicant the option to instruct the
87department to provide his or her name, address, and renewal date
88to the sponsoring organization.
89     Section 2.  Subsections (61) and (62) are added to section
90320.08058, Florida Statutes, to read:
91     320.08058  Specialty license plates.--
92     (61)  SUPPORT OUR TROOPS LICENSE PLATES.--
93     (a)  The department shall develop a Support Our Troops
94license plate as provided in this section. Support Our Troops
95license plates must bear the colors and design approved by the
96department and must contain the soldier and child emblem and
97"Support Our Troops" marks of Support Our Troops, Inc. The right
98to use the mark of an eagle head upon a United States flag field
99on a specialty license plate is reserved to Support Our Troops,
100Inc., and such mark may be used alternatively. The word
101"Florida" must appear on the plate and may be in approximately
10285-point Mistral font, and the words "Support Our Troops" must
103appear on the plate and may be in approximately 60-point Vandijk
104font. Upon compliance with s. 320.08056(9), Support Our Troops,
105Inc., may alternate the phrase at the bottom of the plate to
106"Support Our Heroes" or "Salute Our Heroes." The field of the
107plate may be colored.
108     (b)  The license plate annual use fees shall be distributed
109to Support Our Troops, Inc., to be used for the benefit of
110Florida troops and their families in accordance with its
111articles of incorporation. Support Our Troops, Inc., may retain
112all revenue from the annual use fees until all startup costs for
113developing and establishing the plate have been recovered.
114Thereafter, up to 25 percent of the annual use fee revenue may
115be used for administrative costs and promotion and marketing of
116the specialty license plate.
117     (c)  Notwithstanding s. 320.08056, the department shall
118begin production and distribution of the Support Our Troops
119specialty license plate within 90 days after its approval by the
120Legislature. Section 320.08056(8)(a) shall not apply to the
121Support Our Troops license plate. The Support Our Troops license
122plate shall also be issued in similar design in a size
123appropriate for motorcycles.
124     (62)  FLORIDA NASCAR LICENSE PLATES.--
125     (a)  The department shall develop a Florida NASCAR license
126plate as provided in this section. Florida NASCAR license plates
127must bear the colors and design approved by the department. The
128word "Florida" must appear at the top of the plate, and the term
129"NASCAR" must appear at the bottom of the plate. The National
130Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, following consultation
131with the Florida Sports Foundation, may submit a sample plate
132for consideration by the department.
133     (b)  The license plate annual use fees shall be distributed
134to the Florida Sports Foundation, a direct-support organization
135of the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development. The
136license plate annual use fees are to be annually allocated as
137follows:
138     1.  Up to 5 percent of the proceeds from the annual use
139fees may be used by the Florida Sports Foundation for the
140administration of the NASCAR license plate program.
141     2.  The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
142shall receive up to $80,000 in proceeds from the annual use fees
143to be used to pay startup costs, including costs incurred in
144developing and issuing the plates. Thereafter, 10 percent of the
145proceeds from the annual use fees shall be provided to the
146association for the royalty rights for the use of their marks.
147     3.  The remaining proceeds from the annual use fees shall
148be distributed to the Florida Sports Foundation. The Florida
149Sports Foundation will retain 15 percent to support their
150regional grant program, attracting sporting events to Florida;
15120 percent to support the marketing of motorsports-related
152tourism in the state; and 50 percent to be paid to the NASCAR
153Foundation, an s. 501(c)(3) charitable organization, to support
154Florida-based charitable organizations.
155     (c)  The Florida Sports Foundation shall provide an annual
156financial audit in accordance with s. 215.981 of its financial
157accounts and records by an independent certified public
158accountant pursuant to the contract established by the Office of
159Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development as specified in s.
160288.1229(5). The auditor shall submit the audit report to the
161Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development for review
162and approval. If the audit report is approved, the office shall
163certify the audit report to the Auditor General for review.
164     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.


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