Florida Senate - 2011 CS for SB 654 By the Committee on Higher Education; and Senator Oelrich 589-01829-11 2011654c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to student fees; amending ss. 1009.22 3 and 1009.23, F.S.; authorizing the Board of Trustees 4 of Santa Fe College to establish a transportation 5 access fee for students enrolled at Santa Fe College, 6 including students enrolled in workforce education 7 programs; requiring that revenue from the fee be used 8 only to provide or improve access to transportation 9 services; limiting the amount of the fee; providing a 10 timeframe for a fee increase and implementation of an 11 increase; requiring that a referendum be held by the 12 student government to approve the application of the 13 fee; prohibiting the inclusion of the fee in 14 calculating the amount a student receives under 15 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program awards; 16 providing an effective date. 17 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19 20 Section 1. Present subsection (12) of section 1009.22, 21 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (13), and a new 22 subsection (12) is added to that section, to read: 23 1009.22 Workforce education postsecondary student fees.— 24 (12)(a) The Board of Trustees of Santa Fe College may 25 establish a transportation access fee. Revenue from the fee may 26 be used only to provide or improve access to transportation 27 services for students enrolled at Santa Fe College. The fee may 28 not exceed $6 per credit hour. An increase in the transportation 29 access fee may occur only once each fiscal year and must be 30 implemented beginning with the fall term. A referendum must be 31 held by the student government to approve the application of the 32 fee. 33 (b) Notwithstanding ss. 1009.534, 1009.535, and 1009.536, 34 the transportation access fee authorized under paragraph (a) may 35 not be included in calculating the amount a student receives for 36 a Florida Academic Scholars award, a Florida Medallion Scholars 37 award, or a Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award. 38 Section 2. Present subsection (17) of section 1009.23, 39 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (18), and a new 40 subsection (17) is added to that section to read: 41 1009.23 Community college student fees.— 42 (17)(a) The Board of Trustees of Santa Fe College may 43 establish a transportation access fee. Revenue from the fee may 44 be used only to provide or improve access to transportation 45 services for students enrolled at Santa Fe College. The fee may 46 not exceed $6 per credit hour. An increase in the transportation 47 access fee may occur only once each fiscal year and must be 48 implemented beginning with the fall term. A referendum must be 49 held by the student government to approve the application of the 50 fee. 51 (b) Notwithstanding ss. 1009.534, 1009.535, and 1009.536, 52 the transportation access fee authorized under paragraph (a) may 53 not be included in calculating the amount a student receives for 54 a Florida Academic Scholars award, a Florida Medallion Scholars 55 award, or a Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award. 56 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.