| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to trust funds; creating the Clearing |
| 3 | Funds Trust Fund within the Department of State; providing |
| 4 | for sources of funds and purposes; providing for future |
| 5 | review and termination or re-creation of the trust fund; |
| 6 | amending ss. 99.092 and 99.093, F.S.; clarifying |
| 7 | provisions requiring that election assessments be |
| 8 | transferred to the Elections Commission Trust Fund within |
| 9 | the Department of Legal Affairs; amending s. 105.031, |
| 10 | F.S.; requiring that the filing fees for certain offices |
| 11 | be transferred to the Department of Legal Affairs rather |
| 12 | than the Department of Revenue for deposit into the |
| 13 | Elections Commission Trust Fund; amending s. 106.24, F.S.; |
| 14 | deleting an obsolete reference to the Division of |
| 15 | Elections with respect to the use of funds in the |
| 16 | Elections Commission Trust Fund; amending s. 610.104, |
| 17 | F.S.; requiring that certain funds paid to the Department |
| 18 | of State by cable or video providers be deposited into the |
| 19 | Clearing Funds Trust Fund rather than the Operating Trust |
| 20 | Fund; providing a contingent effective date. |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 23 |
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| 24 | Section 1. Clearing Funds Trust Fund.- |
| 25 | (1) The Clearing Funds Trust Fund is created within the |
| 26 | Department of State. |
| 27 | (2) The trust fund is established for use as a depository |
| 28 | for funds to account for collections pending distribution to |
| 29 | lawful recipients. Funds shall be expended only pursuant to |
| 30 | legislative appropriation or an approved amendment to the |
| 31 | department's operating budget pursuant to the provisions of |
| 32 | chapter 216, Florida Statutes. |
| 33 | (3) In accordance with s. 19(f)(2), Article III of the |
| 34 | State Constitution, the Clearing Funds Trust Fund shall, unless |
| 35 | terminated sooner, be terminated on July 1, 2014. Before its |
| 36 | scheduled termination, the trust fund shall be reviewed as |
| 37 | provided in s. 215.3206(1) and (2), Florida Statutes. |
| 38 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 99.092, Florida |
| 39 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 40 | 99.092 Qualifying fee of candidate; notification of |
| 41 | Department of State.- |
| 42 | (1) Each person seeking to qualify for nomination or |
| 43 | election to any office, except a person seeking to qualify by |
| 44 | the petition process pursuant to s. 99.095 and except a person |
| 45 | seeking to qualify as a write-in candidate, shall pay a |
| 46 | qualifying fee, which shall consist of a filing fee and election |
| 47 | assessment, to the officer with whom the person qualifies, and |
| 48 | any party assessment levied, and shall attach the original or |
| 49 | signed duplicate of the receipt for his or her party assessment |
| 50 | or pay the same, in accordance with the provisions of s. |
| 51 | 103.121, at the time of filing his or her other qualifying |
| 52 | papers. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of the annual |
| 53 | salary of the office. The amount of the election assessment is 1 |
| 54 | percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The election |
| 55 | assessment shall be deposited into the Clearing Funds Trust Fund |
| 56 | and transferred to the Elections Commission Trust Fund within |
| 57 | the Department of Legal Affairs. The amount of the party |
| 58 | assessment is 2 percent of the annual salary. The annual salary |
| 59 | of the office for purposes of computing the filing fee, election |
| 60 | assessment, and party assessment shall be computed by |
| 61 | multiplying 12 times the monthly salary, excluding any special |
| 62 | qualification pay, authorized for such office as of July 1 |
| 63 | immediately preceding the first day of qualifying. No qualifying |
| 64 | fee shall be returned to the candidate unless the candidate |
| 65 | withdraws his or her candidacy before the last date to qualify. |
| 66 | If a candidate dies prior to an election and has not withdrawn |
| 67 | his or her candidacy before the last date to qualify, the |
| 68 | candidate's qualifying fee shall be returned to his or her |
| 69 | designated beneficiary, and, if the filing fee or any portion |
| 70 | thereof has been transferred to the political party of the |
| 71 | candidate, the Secretary of State shall direct the party to |
| 72 | return that portion to the designated beneficiary of the |
| 73 | candidate. |
| 74 | Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 99.093, Florida |
| 75 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 76 | 99.093 Municipal candidates; election assessment.- |
| 77 | (1) Each person seeking to qualify for nomination or |
| 78 | election to a municipal office shall pay, at the time of |
| 79 | qualifying for office, an election assessment. The election |
| 80 | assessment shall be an amount equal to 1 percent of the annual |
| 81 | salary of the office sought. Within 30 days after the close of |
| 82 | qualifying, the qualifying officer shall forward all assessments |
| 83 | collected pursuant to this section to the Department of State |
| 84 | for transfer to deposit in the Elections Commission Trust Fund |
| 85 | within the Department of Legal Affairs. |
| 86 | Section 4. Subsection (3) of section 105.031, Florida |
| 87 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 88 | 105.031 Qualification; filing fee; candidate's oath; items |
| 89 | required to be filed.- |
| 90 | (3) QUALIFYING FEE.-Each candidate qualifying for election |
| 91 | to a judicial office or the office of school board member, |
| 92 | except write-in judicial or school board candidates, shall, |
| 93 | during the time for qualifying, pay to the officer with whom he |
| 94 | or she qualifies a qualifying fee, which shall consist of a |
| 95 | filing fee and an election assessment, or qualify by the |
| 96 | petition process. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of |
| 97 | the annual salary of the office sought. The amount of the |
| 98 | election assessment is 1 percent of the annual salary of the |
| 99 | office sought. The Department of State shall transfer forward |
| 100 | all filing fees to the Department of Legal Affairs Revenue for |
| 101 | deposit in the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The supervisor |
| 102 | of elections shall forward all filing fees to the Elections |
| 103 | Commission Trust Fund. The election assessment shall be |
| 104 | deposited into the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The annual |
| 105 | salary of the office for purposes of computing the qualifying |
| 106 | fee shall be computed by multiplying 12 times the monthly salary |
| 107 | authorized for such office as of July 1 immediately preceding |
| 108 | the first day of qualifying. This subsection does shall not |
| 109 | apply to candidates qualifying for retention to judicial office. |
| 110 | Section 5. Subsection (6) of section 106.24, Florida |
| 111 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 112 | 106.24 Florida Elections Commission; membership; powers; |
| 113 | duties.- |
| 114 | (6) There is hereby established in the State Treasury an |
| 115 | Elections Commission Trust Fund to be used utilized by the |
| 116 | Division of Elections and the Florida Elections Commission in |
| 117 | order to carry out its their duties pursuant to ss. 106.24- |
| 118 | 106.28. The trust fund may also be used by the Secretary of |
| 119 | State, pursuant to his or her authority under s. 97.012(14), to |
| 120 | provide rewards for information leading to criminal convictions |
| 121 | related to voter registration fraud, voter fraud, and vote |
| 122 | scams. |
| 123 | Section 6. Subsection (12) of section 610.104, Florida |
| 124 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 125 | 610.104 State authorization to provide cable or video |
| 126 | service.- |
| 127 | (12) Beginning 5 years after approval of the |
| 128 | certificateholder's initial certificate of franchise issued by |
| 129 | the department, and every 5 years thereafter, the |
| 130 | certificateholder shall update the information contained in the |
| 131 | original application for a certificate of franchise. At the time |
| 132 | of filing the information update, the certificateholder shall |
| 133 | pay a processing fee of $1,000. Any certificateholder that fails |
| 134 | to file the updated information and pay the processing fee on |
| 135 | the 5-year anniversary dates shall be subject to cancellation of |
| 136 | its state-issued certificate of franchise authority if, upon |
| 137 | notice given to the certificateholder at its last address on |
| 138 | file with the department, the certificateholder fails to file |
| 139 | the updated information and pay the processing fee within 30 |
| 140 | days after the date notice was mailed. The application and |
| 141 | processing fees imposed in this section shall be paid to the |
| 142 | Department of State for deposit into the Clearing Funds |
| 143 | Operating Trust Fund for immediate transfer by the Chief |
| 144 | Financial Officer to the General Inspection Trust Fund of the |
| 145 | Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Department |
| 146 | of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall maintain a separate |
| 147 | account within the General Inspection Trust Fund to distinguish |
| 148 | cable franchise revenues from all other funds. The application, |
| 149 | any amendments to the certificate, or information updates must |
| 150 | be accompanied by a fee to the Department of State equal to that |
| 151 | for filing articles of incorporation pursuant to s. 607.0122(1). |
| 152 | Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010, but |
| 153 | this act shall not take effect unless it is enacted by a three- |
| 154 | fifths vote of the membership of each house of the Legislature. |