Florida Senate - 2009              PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
       Bill No. SB 26-A
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 423654                          
       
       601-00066-09A                                                   
       Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on General
       Government Appropriations
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Marine Resources Conservation
    3         Trust Fund; amending s. 201.15, F.S.; deleting
    4         provisions requiring that a portion of revenue from
    5         the excise tax on documents be credited to the fund;
    6         amending s. 379.208, F.S., relating to the purposes of
    7         the trust fund; conforming provisions to changes made
    8         by the act; providing an effective date.
    9         
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11         
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
   13  201.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         201.15 Distribution of taxes collected.—All taxes collected
   15  under this chapter are subject to the service charge imposed in
   16  s. 215.20(1). Prior to distribution under this section, the
   17  Department of Revenue shall deduct amounts necessary to pay the
   18  costs of the collection and enforcement of the tax levied by
   19  this chapter. Such costs and the service charge may not be
   20  levied against any portion of taxes pledged to debt service on
   21  bonds to the extent that the costs and service charge are
   22  required to pay any amounts relating to the bonds. All taxes
   23  remaining after deduction of costs and the service charge shall
   24  be distributed as follows:
   25         (1) Sixty-three and thirty-one hundredths percent of the
   26  remaining taxes collected under this chapter shall be used for
   27  the following purposes:
   28         (c) The remainder of the moneys distributed under this
   29  subsection, after the required payments under paragraphs (a) and
   30  (b), shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of:
   31         1. The State Transportation Trust Fund in the Department of
   32  Transportation in the amount of the lesser of 38.2 percent of
   33  the remainder or $541.75 million in each fiscal year, to be used
   34  for the following specified purposes, notwithstanding any other
   35  law to the contrary:
   36         a. For the purposes of capital funding for the New Starts
   37  Transit Program, authorized by Title 49, U.S.C. s. 5309 and
   38  specified in s. 341.051, 10 percent of these funds;
   39         b. For the purposes of the Small County Outreach Program
   40  specified in s. 339.2818, 5 percent of these funds;
   41         c. For the purposes of the Strategic Intermodal System
   42  specified in ss. 339.61, 339.62, 339.63, and 339.64, 75 percent
   43  of these funds after allocating for the New Starts Transit
   44  Program described in sub-subparagraph a. and the Small County
   45  Outreach Program described in sub-subparagraph b.; and
   46         d. For the purposes of the Transportation Regional
   47  Incentive Program specified in s. 339.2819, 25 percent of these
   48  funds after allocating for the New Starts Transit Program
   49  described in sub-subparagraph a. and the Small County Outreach
   50  Program described in sub-subparagraph b.
   51         2. The Water Protection and Sustainability Program Trust
   52  Fund in the Department of Environmental Protection in the amount
   53  of the lesser of 5.64 percent of the remainder or $80 million in
   54  each fiscal year, to be used as required by s. 403.890.
   55         3. The Grants and Donations Trust Fund in the Department of
   56  Community Affairs in the amount of the lesser of .23 percent of
   57  the remainder or $3.25 million in each fiscal year, with 92
   58  percent to be used to fund technical assistance to local
   59  governments and school boards on the requirements and
   60  implementation of this act and the remaining amount to be used
   61  to fund the Century Commission established in s. 163.3247.
   62         4. The Ecosystem Management and Restoration Trust Fund in
   63  the amount of the lesser of 2.12 percent of the remainder or $30
   64  million in each fiscal year, to be used for the preservation and
   65  repair of the state's beaches as provided in ss. 161.091
   66  161.212.
   67         5.The Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund in the
   68  amount of the lesser of .14 percent of the remainder or $2
   69  million in each fiscal year, to be used for marine mammal care
   70  as provided in s. 379.208(3).
   71         5.6. General Inspection Trust Fund in the amount of the
   72  lesser of .02 percent of the remainder or $300,000 in each
   73  fiscal year to be used to fund oyster management and restoration
   74  programs as provided in s. 379.362(3).
   75  Moneys distributed pursuant to this paragraph may not be pledged
   76  for debt service unless such pledge is approved by referendum of
   77  the voters.
   78         Section 2. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 379.208,
   79  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   80         379.208 Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund;
   81  purposes.—
   82         (1) The Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund within the
   83  Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shall serve as a
   84  broad-based depository for funds from various marine-related and
   85  boating-related activities and shall be administered by the
   86  commission for the purposes of:
   87         (a) Funding for marine research.
   88         (b) Funding for fishery enhancement, including, but not
   89  limited to, fishery statistics development, artificial reefs,
   90  and fish hatcheries.
   91         (c) Funding for marine law enforcement.
   92         (d) Funding for administration of licensing programs for
   93  recreational fishing, saltwater products sales, and related
   94  information and education activities.
   95         (e) Funding for the operations of the Fish and Wildlife
   96  Conservation Commission.
   97         (f) Funding for titling and registration of vessels.
   98         (g) Funding for marine turtle protection, research, and
   99  recovery activities from revenues that are specifically credited
  100  to the trust fund for these purposes.
  101         (h) Funding activities for rehabilitation of oyster
  102  harvesting areas from which special oyster surcharge fees are
  103  collected, including relaying and transplanting live oysters.
  104         (i) Funding for boating research, boating-related programs
  105  and activities, and for law enforcement on state waters.
  106         (j) Funding for the stone crab trap reduction program under
  107  s. 379.365, the blue crab effort management program under s.
  108  379.366, the spiny lobster trap certificate program under s.
  109  379.3671, and the trap retrieval program under s. 379.2424.
  110         (k)Funding to reimburse the cost of activities authorized
  111  pursuant to the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States
  112  Department of the Interior. The facilities must be involved in
  113  the actual rescue and full-time acute care, veterinarian-based
  114  rehabilitation of manatees. The cost of activities includes, but
  115  is not limited to, costs associated with expansion, capital
  116  outlay, repair, maintenance, and operation related to the
  117  rescue, treatment, stabilization, maintenance, release, and
  118  monitoring of manatees. Moneys distributed through the
  119  contractual agreement to each facility for manatee
  120  rehabilitation must be proportionate to the number of manatees
  121  under acute care rehabilitation, the number of maintenance days
  122  medically necessary in the facility, and the number released
  123  during the previous fiscal year. The commission may set a cap on
  124  the total amount reimbursed per manatee per year.
  125         (l)Funding for training on the care, treatment, and
  126  rehabilitation of marine mammals at the Whitney Laboratory and
  127  the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida.
  128         (m)Funding for program administration costs of the agency.
  129         (3)Funds provided to the Marine Resources Conservation
  130  Trust Fund from taxes distributed under s. 201.15 shall be used
  131  for the following purposes:
  132         (a)To reimburse the cost of activities authorized pursuant
  133  to the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States Department
  134  of the Interior. The facilities must be involved in the actual
  135  rescue and full-time acute care veterinarian-based
  136  rehabilitation of manatees. The cost of activities includes, but
  137  is not limited to, costs associated with expansion, capital
  138  outlay, repair, maintenance, and operation related to the
  139  rescue, treatment, stabilization, maintenance, release, and
  140  monitoring of manatees. Moneys distributed through the
  141  contractual agreement to each facility for manatee
  142  rehabilitation must be proportionate to the number of manatees
  143  under acute care rehabilitation; the number of maintenance days
  144  medically necessary in the facility; and the number released
  145  during the previous fiscal year. The commission may set a cap on
  146  the total amount reimbursed per manatee per year.
  147         (b)For training on the care, treatment, and rehabilitation
  148  of marine mammals at the Whitney Laboratory and the College of
  149  Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida.
  150         (c)For program administration costs of the agency.
  151         (d)Funds not distributed in any 1 fiscal year must be
  152  carried over for distribution in subsequent years.
  153         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.