HB 7029

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the certification of minority business
3	enterprises; amending s. 287.0943, F.S.; deleting
4	provisions establishing the Minority Business
5	Certification Task Force, requiring that criteria for the
6	certification of minority business enterprises be approved
7	by the task force, and authorizing the task force to amend
8	the statewide and interlocal agreement for the
9	certification of minority business enterprises; conforming
10	provisions; providing an effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1.  Subsection (2) and paragraph (e) of subsection
15	(3) of section 287.0943, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
16	287.0943  Certification of minority business enterprises.-
17	(2)(a)  The office is hereby directed to convene a
18	"Minority Business Certification Task Force." The task force
19	shall meet as often as necessary, but no less frequently than
20	annually.
21	(b)  The task force shall be regionally balanced and
22	comprised of officials representing the department, counties,
23	municipalities, school boards, special districts, and other
24	political subdivisions of the state who administer programs to
25	assist minority businesses in procurement or development in
26	government-sponsored programs. The following organizations may
27	appoint two members each of the task force who fit the
28	description above:
29	1.  The Florida League of Cities, Inc.
30	2.  The Florida Association of Counties.
31	3.  The Florida School Boards Association, Inc.
32	4.  The Association of Special Districts.
33	5.  The Florida Association of Minority Business Enterprise
34	Officials.
35	6.  The Florida Association of Government Purchasing
36	Officials.
37
38	In addition, the Office of Supplier Diversity shall appoint
39	seven members consisting of three representatives of minority
40	business enterprises, one of whom should be a woman business
41	owner, two officials of the office, and two at-large members to
42	ensure balance. The chairperson of the Legislative Committee on
43	Intergovernmental Relations or a designee shall be a member of
44	the task force, ex officio. A quorum shall consist of one-third
45	of the current members, and the task force may take action by
46	majority vote. Any vacancy may only be filled by the
47	organization or agency originally authorized to appoint the
48	position.
49	(c)  The purpose of the task force will be to propose
50	uniform criteria and procedures by which participating entities
51	and organizations can qualify businesses to participate in
52	procurement or contracting programs as certified minority
53	business enterprises in accordance with the certification
54	criteria established by law.
55	(d)  A final list of the criteria and procedures proposed
56	by the task force shall be considered by the secretary. The task
57	force may seek technical assistance from qualified providers of
58	technical, business, and managerial expertise to ensure the
59	reliability of the certification criteria developed.
60	(a)(e)  In assessing the status of ownership and control,
61	certification criteria shall, at a minimum:
62	1.  Link ownership by a minority person, as defined in s.
63	288.703(3), or as dictated by the legal obligations of a
64	certifying organization, to day-to-day control and financial
65	risk by the qualifying minority owner, and to demonstrated
66	expertise or licensure of a minority owner in any trade or
67	profession that the minority business enterprise will offer to
68	the state when certified. Businesses must comply with all state
69	licensing requirements prior to becoming certified as a minority
70	business enterprise.
71	2.  If present ownership was obtained by transfer, require
72	the minority person on whom eligibility is based to have owned
73	at least 51 percent of the applicant firm for a minimum of 2
74	years, when any previous majority ownership interest in the firm
75	was by a nonminority who is or was a relative, former employer,
76	or current employer of the minority person on whom eligibility
77	is based. This requirement shall not apply to minority persons
78	who are otherwise eligible who take a 51-percent-or-greater
79	interest in a firm that requires professional licensure to
80	operate and who will be the qualifying licenseholder for the
81	firm when certified. A transfer made within a related immediate
82	family group from a nonminority person to a minority person in
83	order to establish ownership by a minority person shall be
84	deemed to have been made solely for purposes of satisfying
85	certification criteria and shall render such ownership invalid
86	for purposes of qualifying for such certification if the
87	combined total net asset value of all members of such family
88	group exceeds $1 million. For purposes of this subparagraph, the
89	term "related immediate family group" means one or more children
90	under 16 years of age and a parent of such children or the
91	spouse of such parent residing in the same house or living unit.
92	3.  Require that prospective certified minority business
93	enterprises be currently performing or seeking to perform a
94	useful business function. A "useful business function" is
95	defined as a business function which results in the provision of
96	materials, supplies, equipment, or services to customers. Acting
97	as a conduit to transfer funds to a nonminority business does
98	not constitute a useful business function unless it is done so
99	in a normal industry practice. As used in this section, the term
100	"acting as a conduit" means, in part, not acting as a regular
101	dealer by making sales of material, goods, or supplies from
102	items bought, kept in stock, and regularly sold to the public in
103	the usual course of business. Brokers, manufacturer's
104	representatives, sales representatives, and nonstocking
105	distributors are considered as conduits that do not perform a
106	useful business function, unless normal industry practice
107	dictates.
108	(b)(f)  When a business receives payments or awards
109	exceeding $100,000 in one fiscal year, a review of its
110	certification status or an audit will be conducted within 2
111	years. In addition, random reviews or audits will be conducted
112	as deemed appropriate by the Office of Supplier Diversity.
113	(c)(g)  The certification criteria approved by the task
114	force and adopted by the Department of Management Services shall
115	be included in a statewide and interlocal agreement as defined
116	in s. 287.09431 and, in accordance with s. 163.01, shall be
117	executed according to the terms included therein.
118	(d)(h)  The certification procedures should allow an
119	applicant seeking certification to designate on the application
120	form the information the applicant considers to be proprietary,
121	confidential business information. As used in this paragraph,
122	"proprietary, confidential business information" includes, but
123	is not limited to, any information that would be exempt from
124	public inspection pursuant to the provisions of chapter 119;
125	trade secrets; internal auditing controls and reports; contract
126	costs; or other information the disclosure of which would injure
127	the affected party in the marketplace or otherwise violate s.
128	286.041. The executor in receipt of the application shall issue
129	written and final notice of any information for which
130	noninspection is requested but not provided for by law.
131	(e)(i)  A business that is certified under the provisions
132	of the statewide and interlocal agreement shall be deemed a
133	certified minority enterprise in all jurisdictions or
134	organizations where the agreement is in effect, and that
135	business is deemed available to do business as such within any
136	such jurisdiction or with any such organization statewide. All
137	state agencies must accept minority business enterprises
138	certified in accordance with the statewide and interlocal
139	agreement of s. 287.09431, and that business shall also be
140	deemed a "certified minority business enterprise" as defined in
141	s. 288.703. However, any governmental jurisdiction or
142	organization that administers a minority business purchasing
143	program may reserve the right to establish further certification
144	procedures necessary to comply with federal law.
145	(j)  The statewide and interlocal agreement shall be guided
146	by the terms and conditions found therein and may be amended at
147	any meeting of the task force and subsequently adopted by the
148	secretary of the Department of Management Services. The amended
149	agreement must be enacted, initialed, and legally executed by at
150	least two-thirds of the certifying entities party to the
151	existing agreement and adopted by the state as originally
152	executed in order to bind the certifying entity.
153	(k)  The task force shall meet for the first time no later
154	than 45 days after the effective date of this act.
155	(3)
156	(e)  Any participating program receiving three or more
157	challenges to its certification decisions pursuant to subsection
158	(4) from other organizations that are executors to the statewide
159	and interlocal agreement, shall be subject to a review by the
160	office, as provided in paragraphs (a) and (b), of the
161	organization's capacity to perform under such agreement and in
162	accordance with the certification core criteria established by
163	the task force. The office shall submit a report to the
164	secretary of the Department of Management Services regarding the
165	results of the review.
166	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

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