Florida Senate - 2009                       CS for CS for SB 682
       
       
       
       By the Committees on General Government Appropriations; and
       Regulated Industries; and Senator Fasano
       
       
       
       601-05623-09                                           2009682c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Department of Business and
    3         Professional Regulation; amending s. 20.165, F.S.;
    4         creating the Division of Service Operations of the
    5         department; amending s. 455.217, F.S.; conforming
    6         provisions and transferring to the Division of Service
    7         Operations from the Division of Technology certain
    8         responsibilities related to examinations; revising
    9         certain requirements for the department concerning the
   10         use of outside vendors for the development,
   11         preparation, and evaluation of examinations; repealing
   12         s. 509.233(1) and (7), F.S., relating to a 3-year
   13         pilot program for local governments to allow patrons’
   14         dogs within certain designated outdoor portions of
   15         public food service establishments; abrogating the
   16         repeal of the program; requiring that the Office of
   17         Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
   18         perform a study and make certain recommendations to
   19         the Legislature by a specified date regarding the
   20         enactment of laws to provide for protection and
   21         remedies from certain online poker activities;
   22         providing an effective date.
   23  
   24  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   25  
   26         Section 1. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (2) of
   27  section 20.165, Florida Statutes, to read:
   28         20.165 Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
   29  There is created a Department of Business and Professional
   30  Regulation.
   31         (2) The following divisions of the Department of Business
   32  and Professional Regulation are established:
   33         (k)Division of Service Operations.
   34         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   35  455.217, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   36         455.217 Examinations.—This section shall be read in
   37  conjunction with the appropriate practice act associated with
   38  each regulated profession under this chapter.
   39         (1) The Division of Service Operations Technology of the
   40  Department of Business and Professional Regulation shall
   41  provide, contract, or approve services for the development,
   42  preparation, administration, scoring, score reporting, and
   43  evaluation of all examinations. The division shall seek the
   44  advice of the appropriate board in providing such services.
   45         (a) The department, acting in conjunction with the Division
   46  of Service Operations Technology and the Division of Real
   47  Estate, as appropriate, shall ensure that examinations
   48  adequately and reliably measure an applicant’s ability to
   49  practice the profession regulated by the department. After an
   50  examination developed or approved by the department has been
   51  administered, the board or department may reject any question
   52  which does not reliably measure the general areas of competency
   53  specified in the rules of the board or department, when there is
   54  no board. The department shall use qualified outside
   55  professional testing vendors services for the development,
   56  preparation, and evaluation of examinations, when such services
   57  are economically and viably available and approved by the
   58  department board.
   59         Section 3. Subsections (1) and (7) of section 509.233,
   60  Florida Statutes, are repealed.
   61         Section 4. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
   62  Government Accountability shall perform a study and make
   63  recommendations to the Legislature by December 1, 2009,
   64  regarding the enactment of laws to provide for protection and
   65  remedies from existing and unregulated online poker activities,
   66  which currently lack oversight and consumer protection under s.
   67  849.086, Florida Statutes.
   68         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.