Florida Senate - 2011 SB 1110 By Senator Dean 3-01339-11 20111110__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to commemoration of the 40th 3 anniversary of the end of the United States’ 4 involvement in the Vietnam War; creating s. 683.025, 5 F.S.; designating March 25 annually as “Vietnam 6 Veterans’ Day”; specifying the date on which the 7 observance of Vietnam Veterans’ Day commences; 8 specifying purpose of the observance; creating s. 9 292.075, F.S.; requiring the Department of Veterans’ 10 Affairs to administratively promote and support the 11 efforts of counties, municipalities, and veterans’ 12 organizations that voluntarily hold special community 13 events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the end 14 of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War 15 and subsequent observances of Vietnam Veterans’ Day; 16 authorizing solicitation of private donations to fund 17 grants to counties, municipalities, and veterans’ 18 organizations that voluntarily hold activities in 19 support of such commemoration; providing for 20 rulemaking of the department; providing for the 21 creation of a special volunteer advisory board to the 22 department for the purpose of reviewing and making 23 recommendations with respect to activities and 24 expenditures of private funds raised in support of 25 such commemoration; amending ss. 320.08056 and 26 320.08058, F.S.; creating the Vietnam Veterans license 27 plate; establishing an annual use fee for the plate; 28 providing for the distribution of use fees received 29 from the sale of such plates; providing an effective 30 date. 31 32 WHEREAS, March 29, 2013, marks the 40th anniversary of the 33 end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and 34 WHEREAS, it is the intent of this act to provide 35 legislative direction and support for recognition of the 36 importance of this event and to ensure the appropriate 37 commemoration of this anniversary and proper demonstration of 38 appreciation for the honorable service and tremendous sacrifice 39 of veterans who served in the United States Armed Services 40 during the Vietnam Era, NOW, THEREFORE, 41 42 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 43 44 Section 1. Section 683.025, Florida Statutes, is created to 45 read: 46 683.025 Vietnam Veterans’ Day.— 47 (1) Commencing on March 25, 2013, the 40th anniversary of 48 the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, the 49 Governor shall proclaim March 25 of each year to be “Vietnam 50 Veterans’ Day,” which day shall be suitably observed throughout 51 the state as a day honoring the veterans who served in the 52 United States Armed Services during the Vietnam Era, and which 53 day shall otherwise be suitably observed by such public 54 exercises in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor may 55 designate. If in any calendar year March 25 falls on a day which 56 is not a school day, “Vietnam Veterans’ Day” shall be observed 57 in the schools on the school day next preceding or on such 58 preceding day as may be designated by local school authorities. 59 (2) The purpose of Vietnam Veterans’ Day is to provide a 60 proper demonstration of appreciation for the honorable service 61 and sacrifice of veterans who served in the United States Armed 62 Forces during the Vietnam Era. 63 Section 2. Section 292.075, Florida Statutes, is created to 64 read: 65 292.075 Vietnam Veterans’ Day; commemoration of 40th 66 anniversary of the end of United States involvement in the 67 Vietnam War.— 68 (1) The department shall administratively promote and 69 support the efforts of counties, municipalities, and bona fide 70 veterans’ organizations that voluntarily hold special community 71 events commemorating Vietnam Veterans Day on March 25, 2013, the 72 40th anniversary of the end of the United States’ involvement in 73 the Vietnam War, and commemorating Vietnam Veterans’ Day in 74 years subsequent to 2013, as provided for in s. 683.025. Such 75 events shall include, but not be limited to, parades or 76 ceremonies held on that date. 77 (2) The department shall adopt rules for the: 78 (a) Solicitation of private donations to fund grants to 79 counties, municipalities, and bona fide veterans’ organizations 80 that voluntarily hold commemorative activities contemplated by 81 this section and s. 683.025 for the purpose of reviewing and 82 making recommendations with respect to such activities and major 83 expenditures of private funds raised in support thereof. 84 (b) Creation of a special volunteer advisory board, 85 consisting of Vietnam veterans who are residents of the state, 86 for the purpose of reviewing and making recommendations with 87 respect to the activities contemplated by this section and s. 88 683.025 and major expenditures of private funds raised in 89 support thereof. 90 Section 3. Paragraph (aaaa) is added to subsection (4) of 91 section 320.08056, Florida Statutes, to read: 92 320.08056 Specialty license plates.— 93 (4) The following license plate annual use fees shall be 94 collected for the appropriate specialty license plates: 95 (aaaa) Vietnam Veterans license plate, $25. 96 Section 4. Subsection (79) is added to section 320.08058, 97 Florida Statutes, to read: 98 320.08058 Specialty license plates.— 99 (79) VIETNAM VETERANS LICENSE PLATE.— 100 (a) The department shall develop a Vietnam Veterans license 101 plate as provided in this section. Vietnam Veterans license 102 plates must bear the colors and design approved by the 103 department. The word “Florida” must appear at the top of the 104 plate, and the words “Vietnam Veterans” must appear at the 105 bottom of the plate. 106 (b) The license plate annual use fees must be deposited in 107 the Operations and Maintenance Trust Fund of the Department of 108 Veterans’ Affairs. All such moneys are to be administered by the 109 direct-support organization of the Department of Veterans’ 110 Affairs created under s. 292.055, the Florida Veterans’ 111 Foundation, and must be used solely for the purposes of: 112 1. Funding grants to counties, municipalities, and bona 113 fide veterans’ organizations for activities related to the 114 initial observance of “Vietnam Veterans’ Day,” on March 25, 115 2013, the 40th anniversary of the end of United States 116 involvement in the Vietnam War; 117 2. Expenditures related to the annual observance of Vietnam 118 Veterans’ Day in years subsequent to 2013; and 119 3. The continuing promotion and marketing of the license 120 plate, subject to the requirements of chapter 216. 121 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.