HB 7033

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 before prior to becoming certified as a
70	minority 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 does shall not apply to minority
78	persons who are otherwise eligible who take a 51-percent-or-
79	greater interest in a firm that requires professional licensure
80	to 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 is shall be
84	deemed to be have been made solely for purposes of satisfying
85	certification criteria and renders shall render such ownership
86	invalid 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. For purposes of this subparagraph, the
95	term A "useful business function" means is defined as a business
96	function that which results in the provision of materials,
97	supplies, equipment, or services to customers. Acting as a
98	conduit to transfer funds to a nonminority business does not
99	constitute a useful business function unless it is done so in a
100	normal industry practice. As used in this section, the term
101	"acting as a conduit" means, in part, not acting as a regular
102	dealer by making sales of material, goods, or supplies from
103	items bought, kept in stock, and regularly sold to the public in
104	the usual course of business. Brokers, manufacturer's
105	representatives, sales representatives, and nonstocking
106	distributors are considered as conduits that do not perform a
107	useful business function, unless normal industry practice
108	dictates.
109	(b)(f)  When a business receives payments or awards
110	exceeding $100,000 in any one fiscal year, a review of its
111	certification status or an audit must will be conducted within 2
112	years. In addition, the Office of Supplier Diversity may, as it
113	deems appropriate, require that random reviews or audits will be
114	conducted as deemed appropriate by the Office of Supplier
115	Diversity.
116	(c)(g)  The certification criteria approved by the task
117	force and adopted by the Department of Management Services shall
118	be included in a statewide and interlocal agreement as defined
119	in s. 287.09431 and, in accordance with s. 163.01, shall be
120	executed according to the terms included therein.
121	(d)(h)  The certification procedures should allow an
122	applicant seeking certification to designate on the application
123	form the information the applicant considers to be proprietary,
124	confidential business information. As used in this paragraph,
125	"proprietary, confidential business information" includes, but
126	is not limited to, any information that would be exempt from
127	public inspection pursuant to the provisions of chapter 119;
128	trade secrets; internal auditing controls and reports; contract
129	costs; or other information the disclosure of which would injure
130	the affected party in the marketplace or otherwise violate s.
131	286.041. The executor in receipt of the application shall issue
132	written and final notice of any information for which
133	noninspection is requested but not provided for by law.
134	(e)(i)  A business that is certified under the provisions
135	of the statewide and interlocal agreement is shall be deemed a
136	certified minority enterprise in all jurisdictions or
137	organizations where the agreement is in effect, and that
138	business is deemed available to do business as such within any
139	such jurisdiction or with any such organization statewide. All
140	state agencies must accept minority business enterprises
141	certified in accordance with the statewide and interlocal
142	agreement of s. 287.09431, and that business is shall also be
143	deemed a "certified minority business enterprise" as defined in
144	s. 288.703. However, any governmental jurisdiction or
145	organization that administers a minority business purchasing
146	program may reserve the right to establish further certification
147	procedures necessary to comply with federal law.
148	(j)  The statewide and interlocal agreement shall be guided
149	by the terms and conditions found therein and may be amended at
150	any meeting of the task force and subsequently adopted by the
151	secretary of the Department of Management Services. The amended
152	agreement must be enacted, initialed, and legally executed by at
153	least two-thirds of the certifying entities party to the
154	existing agreement and adopted by the state as originally
155	executed in order to bind the certifying entity.
156	(k)  The task force shall meet for the first time no later
157	than 45 days after the effective date of this act.
158	(3)
159	(e)  Any participating program receiving three or more
160	challenges to its certification decisions pursuant to subsection
161	(4) from other organizations that are executors to the statewide
162	and interlocal agreement, is shall be subject to a review by the
163	office, as provided in paragraphs (a) and (b), of the
164	organization's capacity to perform under such agreement and in
165	accordance with the certification core criteria established by
166	the task force. The office shall submit a report to the
167	secretary of the Department of Management Services regarding the
168	results of the review.
169	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

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