| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to postsecondary education; amending s. |
| 3 | 1009.26, F.S.; authorizing state universities and |
| 4 | community colleges to waive tuition and fees for certain |
| 5 | public school classroom teachers for undergraduate courses |
| 6 | approved by the Department of Education; requiring State |
| 7 | Board of Education rulemaking; amending s. 1004.26, F.S.; |
| 8 | prohibiting a cause of action against a state university |
| 9 | for the actions or decisions of a state university student |
| 10 | government; amending s. 501.0117, F.S.; providing that a |
| 11 | convenience fee imposed on a student or family making |
| 12 | payment by credit card to certain postsecondary |
| 13 | institutions is not considered a surcharge for purposes of |
| 14 | certain restrictions; amending s. 1009.23, F.S.; |
| 15 | authorizing a community college to assess a convenience |
| 16 | fee for the processing of automated or online credit card |
| 17 | payments; providing a restriction on the amount of the |
| 18 | convenience fee and requiring approval by the community |
| 19 | college board of trustees; providing an effective date. |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 22 |
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| 23 | Section 1. Subsection (10) is added to section 1009.26, |
| 24 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 25 | 1009.26 Fee waivers.- |
| 26 | (10) A state university or community college may waive |
| 27 | tuition and fees for a classroom teacher, as defined in s. |
| 28 | 1012.01(2)(a), who is employed full-time by a school district |
| 29 | and who meets the academic requirements established by the |
| 30 | community college or state university for up to 6 credit hours |
| 31 | per term on a space-available basis in undergraduate courses |
| 32 | approved by the Department of Education. Such courses shall be |
| 33 | limited to undergraduate courses related to special education, |
| 34 | mathematics, or science. The waiver may not be used for courses |
| 35 | scheduled during the school district's regular school day. The |
| 36 | State Board of Education shall adopt a rule that prescribes the |
| 37 | process for the approval of courses by the department. |
| 38 | Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 1004.26, |
| 39 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 40 | 1004.26 University student governments.- |
| 41 | (5) There shall be no cause of action against a state |
| 42 | university for the actions or decisions of the student |
| 43 | government of that state university unless the action or |
| 44 | decision is made final by the state university and constitutes a |
| 45 | violation of state or federal law. |
| 46 | Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 501.0117, Florida |
| 47 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 48 | 501.0117 Credit cards; transactions in which seller or |
| 49 | lessor prohibited from imposing surcharge; penalty.- |
| 50 | (1) A seller or lessor in a sales or lease transaction may |
| 51 | not impose a surcharge on the buyer or lessee for electing to |
| 52 | use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar |
| 53 | means, if the seller or lessor accepts payment by credit card. A |
| 54 | surcharge is any additional amount imposed at the time of a sale |
| 55 | or lease transaction by the seller or lessor that increases the |
| 56 | charge to the buyer or lessee for the privilege of using a |
| 57 | credit card to make payment. Charges imposed pursuant to |
| 58 | approved state or federal tariffs are not considered to be a |
| 59 | surcharge, and charges made under such tariffs are exempt from |
| 60 | this section. A convenience fee imposed upon a student or family |
| 61 | paying tuition, fees, or other student account charges by credit |
| 62 | card to a William L. Boyd, IV, Florida resident access grant |
| 63 | eligible institution, as defined in s. 1009.89, is not |
| 64 | considered to be a surcharge and is exempt from this section if |
| 65 | the amount of the convenience fee does not exceed the total cost |
| 66 | charged by the credit card company to the institution. The term |
| 67 | "credit card" includes those cards for which unpaid balances are |
| 68 | payable on demand. This section does not apply to the offering |
| 69 | of a discount for the purpose of inducing payment by cash, |
| 70 | check, or other means not involving the use of a credit card, if |
| 71 | the discount is offered to all prospective customers. |
| 72 | Section 4. Subsection (15) of section 1009.23, Florida |
| 73 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 74 | 1009.23 Community college student fees.- |
| 75 | (15) Each community college may assess a service charge |
| 76 | for the payment of tuition and fees in installments and a |
| 77 | convenience fee for the processing of automated or online credit |
| 78 | card payments. However, the amount of the convenience fee may |
| 79 | not exceed the total cost charged by the credit card company to |
| 80 | the community college. Such service charge or convenience fee |
| 81 | must be approved by the community college board of trustees. |
| 82 | Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |