| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to highway safety; amending s. 318.18, |
| 3 | F.S.; providing an additional penalty for violations of |
| 4 | provisions that require traffic to stop for a school bus, |
| 5 | prohibit racing on highways, and prohibit reckless |
| 6 | driving; providing for distribution of moneys collected; |
| 7 | amending s. 318.21, F.S.; providing for distribution of |
| 8 | specified civil penalties; amending s. 322.0261, F.S.; |
| 9 | requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor |
| 10 | Vehicles to identify a person who has committed a second |
| 11 | violation of specified provisions within a specified time |
| 12 | period and require such person to complete a driver |
| 13 | improvement course; providing for cancellation of license |
| 14 | for failure to complete such course within a specified |
| 15 | time period; amending s. 395.4036, F.S.; providing for |
| 16 | distribution of funds to trauma centers; providing an |
| 17 | appropriation; providing an effective date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 318.18, Florida |
| 22 | Statutes, is amended, and subsection (19) is added to that |
| 23 | section, to read: |
| 24 | 318.18 Amount of penalties.--The penalties required for a |
| 25 | noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal |
| 26 | offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows: |
| 27 | (5)(a) One hundred dollars for a violation of s. |
| 28 | 316.172(1)(a), failure to stop for a school bus. If, at a |
| 29 | hearing, the alleged offender is found to have committed this |
| 30 | offense, the court shall impose a minimum civil penalty of $100. |
| 31 | In addition to this penalty, for a second or subsequent offense |
| 32 | within a period of 5 years, the department shall suspend the |
| 33 | driver's license of the person for not less than 90 days and not |
| 34 | more than 6 months. |
| 35 | (b) Two hundred dollars for a violation of s. |
| 36 | 316.172(1)(b), passing a school bus on the side that children |
| 37 | enter and exit when the school bus displays a stop signal. If, |
| 38 | at a hearing, the alleged offender is found to have committed |
| 39 | this offense, the court shall impose a minimum civil penalty of |
| 40 | $200. In addition to this penalty, for a second or subsequent |
| 41 | offense within a period of 5 years, the department shall suspend |
| 42 | the driver's license of the person for not less than 180 days |
| 43 | and not more than 1 year. |
| 44 | (c) In addition to the penalty under paragraph (a) or |
| 45 | paragraph (b), $65 for a violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) or (b). |
| 46 | If, at a hearing, the alleged offender is found to have |
| 47 | committed the offense, the court shall impose the civil penalty |
| 48 | under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) plus an additional $65. The |
| 49 | additional $65 collected under this paragraph shall be remitted |
| 50 | to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Administrative |
| 51 | Trust Fund of the Department of Health to be used as provided in |
| 52 | s. 395.4036. |
| 53 | (19) In addition to any other penalty, $65 for a violation |
| 54 | of s. 316.191, prohibiting racing on highways, or s. 316.192, |
| 55 | prohibiting reckless driving. The additional $65 collected under |
| 56 | this subsection shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue |
| 57 | for deposit into the Administrative Trust Fund of the Department |
| 58 | of Health to be used as provided in s. 395.4036. |
| 59 | Section 2. Subsection (18) is added to section 318.21, |
| 60 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 61 | 318.21 Disposition of civil penalties by county |
| 62 | courts.--All civil penalties received by a county court pursuant |
| 63 | to the provisions of this chapter shall be distributed and paid |
| 64 | monthly as follows: |
| 65 | (18) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), the proceeds |
| 66 | from the additional penalties imposed pursuant to s. |
| 67 | 318.18(5)(c) and (19) shall be distributed as provided in that |
| 68 | section. |
| 69 | Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 322.0261, Florida |
| 70 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 71 | 322.0261 Driver improvement course; requirement to |
| 72 | maintain driving privileges; failure to complete; department |
| 73 | approval of course.-- |
| 74 | (3) The department shall identify any operator convicted |
| 75 | of, or who pleaded nolo contendere to, a second violation of s. |
| 76 | 316.074(1), or s. 316.075(1)(c)1., s. 316.172, s. 316.191, or s. |
| 77 | 316.192, which violation occurred within 12 months after the |
| 78 | first violation, and shall require that operator, in addition to |
| 79 | other applicable penalties, to attend a department-approved |
| 80 | driver improvement course in order to maintain driving |
| 81 | privileges. If the operator fails to complete the course within |
| 82 | 90 days after receiving notice from the department, the |
| 83 | operator's driver license shall be canceled by the department |
| 84 | until the course is successfully completed. |
| 85 | Section 4. Section 395.4036, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 86 | to read: |
| 87 | 395.4036 Trauma payments.-- |
| 88 | (1) Recognizing the Legislature's stated intent to provide |
| 89 | financial support to the current verified trauma centers and to |
| 90 | provide incentives for the establishment of additional trauma |
| 91 | centers as part of a system of state-sponsored trauma centers, |
| 92 | the department shall utilize funds collected under s. 318.18(15) |
| 93 | and deposited into the Administrative Trust Fund of the |
| 94 | department to ensure the availability and accessibility of |
| 95 | trauma services throughout the state as provided in this |
| 96 | subsection. |
| 97 | (a) Funds collected under s. 318.18(15) shall be |
| 98 | distributed as follows: |
| 99 | 1.(a) Twenty percent of the total funds collected under |
| 100 | this subsection during the state fiscal year shall be |
| 101 | distributed to verified trauma centers that have a local funding |
| 102 | contribution as of December 31. Distribution of funds under this |
| 103 | subparagraph paragraph shall be based on trauma caseload volume |
| 104 | for the most recent calendar year available. |
| 105 | 2.(b) Forty percent of the total funds collected under |
| 106 | this subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma centers |
| 107 | based on trauma caseload volume for the most recent calendar |
| 108 | year available. The determination of caseload volume for |
| 109 | distribution of funds under this subparagraph paragraph shall be |
| 110 | based on the department's Trauma Registry data. |
| 111 | 3.(c) Forty percent of the total funds collected under |
| 112 | this subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma centers |
| 113 | based on severity of trauma patients for the most recent |
| 114 | calendar year available. The determination of severity for |
| 115 | distribution of funds under this subparagraph paragraph shall be |
| 116 | based on the department's International Classification Injury |
| 117 | Severity Scores or another statistically valid and |
| 118 | scientifically accepted method of stratifying a trauma patient's |
| 119 | severity of injury, risk of mortality, and resource consumption |
| 120 | as adopted by the department by rule, weighted based on the |
| 121 | costs associated with and incurred by the trauma center in |
| 122 | treating trauma patients. The weighting of scores shall be |
| 123 | established by the department by rule. |
| 124 | (b) Funds collected under s. 318.18(5)(c) and (19) shall |
| 125 | be distributed as follows: |
| 126 | 1. Thirty percent of the total funds collected shall be |
| 127 | distributed to Level II trauma centers operated by a public |
| 128 | hospital governed by an elected board of directors as of |
| 129 | December 31, 2008. |
| 130 | 2. Thirty-five percent of the total funds collected shall |
| 131 | be distributed to verified trauma centers based on trauma |
| 132 | caseload volume for the most recent calendar year available. The |
| 133 | determination of caseload volume for distribution of funds under |
| 134 | this subparagraph shall be based on the department's Trauma |
| 135 | Registry data. |
| 136 | 3. Thirty-five percent of the total funds collected shall |
| 137 | be distributed to verified trauma centers based on severity of |
| 138 | trauma patients for the most recent calendar year available. The |
| 139 | determination of severity for distribution of funds under this |
| 140 | subparagraph shall be based on the department's International |
| 141 | Classification Injury Severity Scores or another statistically |
| 142 | valid and scientifically accepted method of stratifying a trauma |
| 143 | patient's severity of injury, risk of mortality, and resource |
| 144 | consumption as adopted by the department by rule, weighted based |
| 145 | on the costs associated with and incurred by the trauma center |
| 146 | in treating trauma patients. The weighting of scores shall be |
| 147 | established by the department by rule. |
| 148 | (2) Funds deposited in the department's Administrative |
| 149 | Trust Fund for verified trauma centers may be used to maximize |
| 150 | the receipt of federal funds that may be available for such |
| 151 | trauma centers. Notwithstanding this section and s. 318.14, |
| 152 | distributions to trauma centers may be adjusted in a manner to |
| 153 | ensure that total payments to trauma centers represent the same |
| 154 | proportional allocation as set forth in this section and s. |
| 155 | 318.14. For purposes of this section and s. 318.14, total funds |
| 156 | distributed to trauma centers may include revenue from the |
| 157 | Administrative Trust Fund and federal funds for which revenue |
| 158 | from the Administrative Trust Fund is used to meet state or |
| 159 | local matching requirements. Funds collected under ss. 318.14 |
| 160 | and 318.18(15) and deposited in the Administrative Trust Fund of |
| 161 | the department shall be distributed to trauma centers on a |
| 162 | quarterly basis using the most recent calendar year data |
| 163 | available. Such data shall not be used for more than four |
| 164 | quarterly distributions unless there are extenuating |
| 165 | circumstances as determined by the department, in which case the |
| 166 | most recent calendar year data available shall continue to be |
| 167 | used and appropriate adjustments shall be made as soon as the |
| 168 | more recent data becomes available. |
| 169 | (3)(2)(a) Any trauma center not subject to audit pursuant |
| 170 | to s. 215.97 shall annually attest, under penalties of perjury, |
| 171 | that such proceeds were used in compliance with law. The annual |
| 172 | attestation shall be made in a form and format determined by the |
| 173 | department. The annual attestation shall be submitted to the |
| 174 | department for review within 9 months after the end of the |
| 175 | organization's fiscal year. |
| 176 | (b) Any trauma center subject to audit pursuant to s. |
| 177 | 215.97 shall submit an audit report in accordance with rules |
| 178 | adopted by the Auditor General. |
| 179 | (4)(3) The department, working with the Agency for Health |
| 180 | Care Administration, shall maximize resources for trauma |
| 181 | services wherever possible. |
| 182 | Section 5. The sum of $2.5 million is appropriated in |
| 183 | fiscal year 2009-2010 from recurring general revenue to the |
| 184 | Administrative Trust Fund of the Department of Health to provide |
| 185 | funding for trauma centers in accordance with this act. |
| 186 | Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |