| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public employees' charitable campaigns; |
| 3 | creating s. 110.182, F.S.; creating the Florida Public |
| 4 | Employees' Charitable Campaign for public employers |
| 5 | residing within identified geographic areas, excluding |
| 6 | state and federal employees; providing definitions; |
| 7 | requiring certain public employers to conduct a charitable |
| 8 | campaign as the sole fundraising drive conducted during |
| 9 | work hours; providing for public employee payroll |
| 10 | deductions and workplace campaign activities; requiring |
| 11 | all campaign contributions to be voluntary; providing |
| 12 | criteria for the application and withdrawal from the |
| 13 | campaign; providing that participation must be limited to |
| 14 | certain not-for-profit charitable federations and member |
| 15 | agencies; excluding certain charitable organizations from |
| 16 | participation; providing for selection of fiscal agent; |
| 17 | authorizing a specified percentage of the gross receipts |
| 18 | to be withheld to pay the costs of the public employer and |
| 19 | fiscal agent; providing for the distribution of |
| 20 | contributions; providing an effective date. |
| 21 |
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| 22 | WHEREAS, it is not a function of the government to favor or |
| 23 | endorse one charity over another, and |
| 24 | WHEREAS, it is the state's responsibility not to accept a |
| 25 | monopoly on the types of charities a public employee may donate |
| 26 | to, and |
| 27 | WHEREAS, this act will allow a choice in charitable giving |
| 28 | to public employees, excluding state and federal employees, that |
| 29 | donate money through payroll deduction, alleviating opposition |
| 30 | by a charitable entity or the necessity for a charitable entity |
| 31 | to bring legal action, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 32 |
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| 33 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 34 |
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| 35 | Section 1. Section 110.182, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 36 | to read: |
| 37 | 110.182 Florida Public Employees' Charitable Campaign.-- |
| 38 | (1) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term: |
| 39 | (a) "Available services" means services that are available |
| 40 | through an approved participating agency that directly and |
| 41 | indirectly benefit the citizens in the service area. |
| 42 | (b) "Federation" means a group of not-for-profit |
| 43 | charitable organizations that have voluntarily joined together |
| 44 | for the purpose of raising and distributing contributions for |
| 45 | and among themselves. A federation must consist of at least 10 |
| 46 | member agencies in each public employer area. |
| 47 | (c) "Fiscal agent" means an organization or public |
| 48 | employer that receives, accounts for, and distributes charitable |
| 49 | contributions among participating federations as a separate |
| 50 | function from their participation in the Florida Public |
| 51 | Employees' Charitable Campaign. |
| 52 | (d) "Florida Public Employees' Charitable Campaign" means |
| 53 | the only authorized charitable fundraising drive directed toward |
| 54 | public employees, excluding state or federal employees, within |
| 55 | work areas during work hours, and for which the public employer |
| 56 | will provide payroll deduction opportunities. |
| 57 | (e) "Local public employer service area" consists of any |
| 58 | single county in which the public employers operate and adjacent |
| 59 | counties in which their public employees may reside. |
| 60 | (f) "Member agency" means a not-for-profit charitable |
| 61 | organization that belongs to a federation. |
| 62 | (g) "Public employee" means an employee of a local |
| 63 | governmental agency or any of its departments, bureaus, |
| 64 | committees, or officers, excluding state or federal employees. |
| 65 | (h) "Public employer" means a group of local governmental |
| 66 | agencies, offices, or political subdivisions housed within |
| 67 | county geographical boundaries, excluding a state or federal |
| 68 | office. |
| 69 | (2) CREATION AND ORGANIZATION OF FLORIDA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' |
| 70 | CHARITABLE CAMPAIGN.-- |
| 71 | (a) Public employers collectively residing within the |
| 72 | boundaries of a single county shall conduct one charitable |
| 73 | workplace giving campaign and shall include federations and |
| 74 | member agencies that meet the eligibility requirements for |
| 75 | participation in the public employer service area for that |
| 76 | county. The number of public employee charitable campaigns may |
| 77 | not exceed the number of local public employer service areas in |
| 78 | the state. Campaigns shall be identified as the "(County Name) |
| 79 | Charitable Campaign." This is the only authorized charitable |
| 80 | fundraising drive directed toward public employees within work |
| 81 | areas during work hours, and for which the collective public |
| 82 | employers in each public employer service area will provide |
| 83 | countywide payroll deduction opportunities. The campaign may be |
| 84 | held at any time during the year and shall replace any current |
| 85 | public employee charitable fundraising drive. |
| 86 | (b) Public employees may not be coerced to participate in |
| 87 | the Florida Public Employees' Charitable Campaign and public |
| 88 | employees' contributions must be entirely voluntary. |
| 89 | (c) Payroll deductions made by the public employer from |
| 90 | the salaries or wages of public employees may only be in the |
| 91 | amount authorized by the employee for payment to an eligible |
| 92 | federation or member agency designated by the employee. |
| 93 | Authority for the deduction may be withdrawn by the public |
| 94 | employee at any time by filing a written notification of |
| 95 | withdrawal with the applicable treasurer or responsible official |
| 96 | in charge of the payroll system, without penalty to the public |
| 97 | employee or fiscal agent. |
| 98 | (d) A committee composed of current employees of the |
| 99 | public employer shall be established by the public employers to |
| 100 | assist in conducting the charitable campaign. |
| 101 | (e) One printed or electronic brochure and pledge form |
| 102 | shall be created by the public employer for distribution to all |
| 103 | public employees located within the local public employer |
| 104 | service area. |
| 105 | (f) All participating federations and member agencies |
| 106 | shall receive a fair and equitable presence in any campaign- |
| 107 | related activities and publications, including rotation of |
| 108 | agency listings in all printed and electronic media. There shall |
| 109 | be no preference for any one participating federation or member |
| 110 | agency. Additionally, all participating federations must be |
| 111 | available to answer inquires made by each public employer |
| 112 | regarding campaign contributions related to its member agencies. |
| 113 | (3) QUALIFYING CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.--A public |
| 114 | employer that conducts the Florida Public Employees' Charitable |
| 115 | Campaign must include all federations and member agencies that |
| 116 | meet the eligibility requirements for participation in the |
| 117 | campaign. |
| 118 | (a) Federations may participate in a campaign within each |
| 119 | of the local public employer service areas where they have at |
| 120 | least 10 eligible member agencies. |
| 121 | (b) A member agency that has available services in the |
| 122 | public employer service area that directly or indirectly |
| 123 | benefits citizens residing in the service area is eligible to |
| 124 | participate. |
| 125 | (c) Participation in the Florida Public Employees' |
| 126 | Charitable Campaign is limited to any federation or member |
| 127 | agency that has as its principal mission: |
| 128 | 1. Public health and welfare; |
| 129 | 2. Education; |
| 130 | 3. Environmental restoration and conservation; |
| 131 | 4. Civil and human rights; or |
| 132 | 5. Relief of human suffering and poverty. |
| 133 | (d) To qualify as a federation or member agency for |
| 134 | purposes of the Florida Public Employees' Charitable Campaign: |
| 135 | 1. A federation must have an office open at least 20 hours |
| 136 | per week, employing full-time or part-time employees in this |
| 137 | state for the last 3 calendar years. |
| 138 | 2. A federation must represent at least 10 eligible member |
| 139 | agencies in public health and welfare services, education, |
| 140 | environmental restoration and conservation, civil and human |
| 141 | rights, or the relief of human suffering and poverty, each of |
| 142 | which has an office open at least 20 hours per week. |
| 143 | 3. A member agency must be able to, upon request, document |
| 144 | the availability of its services in the public employer service |
| 145 | area in which the campaign takes place. A local address in the |
| 146 | public employer service area is sufficient documentation. |
| 147 | Federations are exempt from this requirement. |
| 148 | 4. Each federation and member agency must be governed by |
| 149 | an active, voluntary board that exercises administrative |
| 150 | control. |
| 151 | (e) Each federation and member agency must certify that it |
| 152 | has its financial records audited annually by an independent |
| 153 | public accountant whose examination conforms to generally |
| 154 | accepted accounting principles. |
| 155 | (f) Local unaffiliated eligible charitable organizations |
| 156 | may apply to a participating federation for inclusion in the |
| 157 | Florida Public Employees' Charitable Campaign, provided such |
| 158 | charitable organizations meet the eligibility requirements of |
| 159 | the participating federation, thus ensuring that all local |
| 160 | eligible charitable organizations can participate. |
| 161 | (g) A federation or a member agency may not participate in |
| 162 | the campaign if the federation or member agency: |
| 163 | 1. Has fundraising and administrative expenses that exceed |
| 164 | 25 percent of its program funds. |
| 165 | 2. Conducts activities that contain an element that is |
| 166 | more than incidentally political in nature or that are primarily |
| 167 | political, religious, professional, or fraternal in nature. |
| 168 | 3. Discriminates against an individual or group based on |
| 169 | race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or |
| 170 | political affiliation. |
| 171 | 4. Is not properly registered as a charitable organization |
| 172 | as required by the Solicitation of Contributions Act, ss. |
| 173 | 496.401-496.424. |
| 174 | 5. Has not received tax-exempt status under s. 501(c)(3) |
| 175 | of the Internal Revenue Code. |
| 176 | (4) SELECTION OF FISCAL AGENTS; COST.-- |
| 177 | (a) A public employer that conducts the Florida Public |
| 178 | Employees' Charitable Campaign may serve as the fiscal agent for |
| 179 | the campaign or may contract with a fiscal agent selected |
| 180 | through a competitive procurement process. |
| 181 | (b) The fiscal agent may withhold up to 10 percent of |
| 182 | gross campaign receipts to pay for the public employer's |
| 183 | reasonable costs of conducting the campaign and for the fees or |
| 184 | costs of the fiscal agent, potentially alleviating any cost to |
| 185 | the public employer. |
| 186 | (c) Campaign pledge loss shall be calculated based on |
| 187 | actual receipts and may not be charged in advance as part of the |
| 188 | fiscal agent's fees. |
| 189 | (d) The fiscal agent shall maintain a complete record of |
| 190 | all receipts, costs, and accounting and distribution activities |
| 191 | and furnish a report of the activities to the public employer, |
| 192 | federations, and member agencies. Records relating to these |
| 193 | activities must be available for inspection by the public upon |
| 194 | request. |
| 195 | (e) Each participating federation and member agency shall |
| 196 | receive the same percentage of undesignated contributions raised |
| 197 | in the campaign as the percentage of designated contributions it |
| 198 | received. |
| 199 | (f) The fiscal agent shall distribute contributions to the |
| 200 | federations for distribution to their member agencies quarterly, |
| 201 | with the first distribution to the federations within 6 months |
| 202 | after the current year campaign end date and final distribution |
| 203 | within 18 months after the campaign end date. |
| 204 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |