CS/CS/HB 653

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Corporate Income Tax Credit
3	Scholarship Program; amending s. 220.187, F.S.; providing
4	legislative findings; revising program purposes; providing
5	that siblings of certain students are eligible for
6	participation in the program; revising provisions
7	authorizing the total amount of tax credits that may be
8	granted and deleting the reservation of a portion thereof;
9	revising authorized uses of scholarship funds; revising
10	provisions relating to expenditure of contributions
11	received by a scholarship-funding organization during a
12	state fiscal year; authorizing expenditure of
13	contributions for specified administrative expenses by
14	certain scholarship-funding organizations; providing for
15	the annual return of specified eligible contributions to
16	the State Treasury; correcting a cross-reference; revising
17	scholarship amounts and providing for adjustments in
18	future scholarship amounts; revising requirements relating
19	to verification of student attendance for purposes of
20	scholarship payment; providing for preservation of credits
21	under certain circumstances; providing an effective date.
22
23	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25	Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (3), paragraph (b) of
26	subsection (5), paragraphs (d) and (i) of subsection (6),
27	paragraph (c) of subsection (8), and paragraphs (a) and (c) of
28	subsection (11) of section 220.187, Florida Statutes, are
29	amended, and subsection (14) is added to that section, to read:
30	220.187  Credits for contributions to nonprofit
31	scholarship-funding organizations.--
32	(1)  FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.--
33	(a)  The Legislature finds that:
34	1.  It has the inherent power to determine subjects of
35	taxation for general or particular public purposes.
36	2.  Expanding educational opportunities and improving the
37	quality of educational services within the state are valid
38	public purposes that the Legislature may promote using its
39	sovereign power to determine subjects of taxation and exemptions
40	from taxation.
41	3.  Ensuring that all parents, regardless of means, may
42	exercise and enjoy their basic right to educate their children
43	as they see fit is a valid public purpose that the Legislature
44	may promote using its sovereign power to determine subjects of
45	taxation and exemptions from taxation.
46	4.  Expanded educational opportunities and the healthy
47	competition they promote are critical to improving the quality
48	of education in the state and to ensuring that all children
49	receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled.
50	(b)  The purpose of this section is to:
51	1.(a)  Enable taxpayers to make Encourage private,
52	voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding
53	organizations in order to promote the general welfare.
54	2.  Provide taxpayers who wish to help parents with limited
55	resources exercise their basic right to educate their children
56	as they see fit with a means to do so.
57	3.(b)  Promote the general welfare by expanding Expand
58	educational opportunities for children of families that have
59	limited financial resources.
60	4.(c)  Enable children in this state to achieve a greater
61	level of excellence in their education.
62	5.  Improve the quality of education in this state, both by
63	expanding educational opportunities for children and by creating
64	incentives for schools to achieve excellence.
65	(3)  PROGRAM; SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The Corporate
66	Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program is established. A student
67	is eligible for a corporate income tax credit scholarship if the
68	student qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches under
69	the National School Lunch Act and:
70	(a)  Was counted as a full-time equivalent student during
71	the previous state fiscal year for purposes of state per-student
72	funding;
73	(b)  Received a scholarship from an eligible nonprofit
74	scholarship-funding organization or from the State of Florida
75	during the previous school year; or
76	(c)  Is eligible to enter kindergarten or first grade.
77
78	Contingent upon available funds, a student may continue in the
79	scholarship program as long as the student's household family
80	income level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty
81	level. A sibling of a student who is continuing in the program
82	and resides in the same household as the student shall also be
83	eligible as a first-time corporate income tax credit scholarship
84	recipient as long as the student's and sibling's household
85	income level does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty
86	level.
87	(5)  AUTHORIZATION TO GRANT SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING TAX
88	CREDITS; LIMITATIONS ON INDIVIDUAL AND TOTAL CREDITS.--
89	(b)  The total amount of tax credits and carryforward of
90	tax credits which may be granted each state fiscal year under
91	this section is:
92	1.  Through June 30, 2008, $88 million.
93	2.  Through June 30, 2009, $118 million.
94	3.  Through June 30, 2010, $148 million.
95	4.  Through June 30, 2011, $178 million.
96	5.  Through June 30, 2012, $208 million.
97	6.  Beginning July 1, 2012, and thereafter, $238 million.
98	At least 1 percent of the total statewide amount authorized for
99	the tax credit shall be reserved for taxpayers who meet the
100	definition of a small business provided in s. 288.703(1) at the
101	time of application.
102	(6)  OBLIGATIONS OF ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT SCHOLARSHIP-FUNDING
103	ORGANIZATIONS.--An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
104	organization:
105	(d)  Must provide scholarships, from eligible
106	contributions, to eligible students for the cost of:
107	1.  Tuition and fees or textbook expenses for, or
108	transportation to, an eligible private school. At least 75
109	percent of the scholarship funding must be used to pay tuition
110	expenses; or
111	2.  Transportation expenses to a Florida public school that
112	is located outside the district in which the student resides or
113	to a lab school as defined in s. 1002.32.
114	(i)1.  May use up to 3 percent of eligible contributions
115	received during the state fiscal year in which such
116	contributions are collected for administrative expenses if the
117	organization has operated under this section for at least 3
118	state fiscal years and did not have any negative financial
119	findings in its most recent audit under paragraph (l). Such
120	administrative expenses must be reasonable and necessary for the
121	organization's management and distribution of eligible
122	contributions under this section. No more than one-third of the
123	funds authorized for administrative expenses under this
124	subparagraph may be used for expenses related to the recruitment
125	of contributions from corporate taxpayers.
126	2.  Must expend for annual or partial-year scholarships an
127	amount equal to or greater than 75 percent of the net eligible
128	contributions remaining after administrative expenses during the
129	state fiscal year in which such contributions are collected. No
130	more than 25 percent of such net eligible contributions may be
131	carried forward to the following state fiscal year. Any amounts
132	carried forward shall be expended for Must obligate, in the same
133	fiscal year in which the contribution was received, 100 percent
134	of the eligible contribution to provide annual or partial-year
135	scholarships; however, up to 25 percent of the total
136	contribution may be carried forward for expenditure in the
137	following state fiscal year. Net eligible contributions
138	remaining on June 30 of each year that are in excess of the 25
139	percent that may be carried forward shall be returned to the
140	State Treasury for deposit in the General Revenue Fund.
141	3.  A scholarship-funding organization Must, before
142	granting a scholarship for an academic year, document each
143	scholarship student's eligibility for that academic year. A
144	scholarship-funding organization may not grant multiyear
145	scholarships in one approval process. No portion of eligible
146	contributions may be used for administrative expenses. All
147	interest accrued from contributions must be used for
148	scholarships.
149
150	Any and all information and documentation provided to the
151	Department of Education and the Auditor General relating to the
152	identity of a taxpayer that provides an eligible contribution
153	under this section shall remain confidential at all times in
154	accordance with s. 213.053.
155	(8)  PRIVATE SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY AND OBLIGATIONS.--An
156	eligible private school may be sectarian or nonsectarian and
157	must:
158	(c)  Be academically accountable to the parent for meeting
159	the educational needs of the student by:
160	1.  At a minimum, annually providing to the parent a
161	written explanation of the student's progress.
162	2.  Annually administering or making provision for students
163	participating in the scholarship program to take one of the
164	nationally norm-referenced tests identified by the Department of
165	Education. Students with disabilities for whom standardized
166	testing is not appropriate are exempt from this requirement. A
167	participating private school must report a student's scores to
168	the parent and to the independent research organization selected
169	by the Department of Education as described in paragraph (9)(j).
170	3.  Cooperating with the scholarship student whose parent
171	chooses to have the student participate in the statewide
172	assessments pursuant to s. 1008.22 1008.32.
173
174	The inability of a private school to meet the requirements of
175	this subsection shall constitute a basis for the ineligibility
176	of the private school to participate in the scholarship program
177	as determined by the Department of Education.
178	(11)  SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT AND PAYMENT.--
179	(a)  The amount of a scholarship provided to any student
180	for any single school year by an eligible nonprofit scholarship-
181	funding organization from eligible contributions shall be for
182	total costs authorized under paragraph (6)(d), not to exceed the
183	following annual limits:
184	1. Three thousand seven hundred fifty dollars For a
185	scholarship awarded to a student enrolled in an eligible private
186	school:
187	a.  Three thousand nine hundred fifty dollars during the
188	2008-2009 state fiscal year.
189	b.  Sixty percent of the statewide average total funds per
190	unweighted full-time equivalent funding amount as determined in
191	the Florida Education Finance Program calculation that is
192	incorporated by reference in the General Appropriations Act, or
193	any subsequent special appropriations act, for the 2009-2010
194	state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter.
195	2.  Five hundred dollars for a scholarship awarded to a
196	student enrolled in a Florida public school that is located
197	outside the district in which the student resides or in a lab
198	school as defined in s. 1002.32.
199	(c)  An eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization
200	shall obtain verification from the private school of a student's
201	continued attendance at the school for prior to each period
202	covered by a scholarship payment.
203	(14)  PRESERVATION OF CREDIT.--If any provision or portion
204	of subsection (5) or the application thereof to any person or
205	circumstance is held unconstitutional by any court or is
206	otherwise declared invalid, the unconstitutionality or
207	invalidity shall not affect any credit earned under subsection
208	(5) by any taxpayer with respect to any contribution paid to an
209	eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organization before the
210	date of a determination of unconstitutionality or invalidity.
211	Such credit shall be allowed at such time and in such a manner
212	as if a determination of unconstitutionality or invalidity had
213	not been made, provided that nothing in this subsection by
214	itself or in combination with any other provision of law shall
215	result in the allowance of any credit to any taxpayer in excess
216	of one dollar of credit for each dollar paid to an eligible
217	nonprofit scholarship-funding organization.
218	Section 2.  This act shall take effect June 30, 2008.

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