Florida Senate - 2017                                    SB 1030
       
       
        
       By Senator Broxson
       
       
       
       
       
       1-00913-17                                            20171030__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to background screening of refugees;
    3         amending s. 187.201, F.S.; adopting a policy
    4         concerning background screening of potential refugees
    5         as a part of the State Comprehensive Plan; amending s.
    6         216.151, F.S.; specifying duties of the Office of
    7         State-Federal Relations concerning background
    8         screening of refugees; amending s. 402.86, F.S.;
    9         specifying requirements for background screening of
   10         refugees as a condition of state participation in
   11         certain refugee resettlement or assistance programs;
   12         providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section
   17  187.201, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         187.201 State Comprehensive Plan adopted.—The Legislature
   19  hereby adopts as the State Comprehensive Plan the following
   20  specific goals and policies:
   21         (6) PUBLIC SAFETY.—
   22         (b) Policies.—
   23         1. Maintain safe and secure prisons and other correctional
   24  facilities with the required number of well-trained staff.
   25         2. Provide effective alternatives to incarceration for
   26  appropriate offenders and encourage victim restitution.
   27         3. Make the corrections system as financially cost
   28  effective as possible through prison industries and other inmate
   29  work programs and through contractual agreements with public and
   30  private vendors.
   31         4. Continue to monitor educational and vocational training
   32  of inmates to increase the likelihood of successful
   33  reintegration into the community.
   34         5. Provide all inmates with access to adequate health care,
   35  including diagnostic and treatment programs for offenders
   36  suffering from substance abuse or psychological disorders.
   37         6. Provide incentives to attract and retain high-quality
   38  law enforcement and correctional officers.
   39         7. Emphasize the reduction of serious crime, particularly
   40  violent, organized, economic, and drug-related crimes.
   41         8. Increase the level of training and technical assistance
   42  provided to law enforcement agencies.
   43         9. Increase crime prevention efforts to enhance the
   44  protection of individual personal safety and property.
   45         10. Emphasize and protect the rights of crime victims.
   46         11. Continue to implement coordinated and integrated
   47  strategies to combat organized crime, economic crime, and drug
   48  trafficking.
   49         12. Expand the state’s provisions for the protection of
   50  witnesses in criminal cases, especially organized crime cases.
   51         13. Strengthen the state’s commitment to pursue, both
   52  criminally and civilly, those individuals who profit from
   53  economic crimes, in a manner that keeps pace with the level and
   54  sophistication of these criminal activities.
   55         14. Improve the efficiency of law enforcement through the
   56  establishment of a close communication and coordination system
   57  among agencies and a comprehensive reporting system for such
   58  types of criminal activities as forcible felonies and organized,
   59  economic, and drug crimes.
   60         15. Improve the effectiveness of the delinquent juvenile
   61  justice system commitment programs to reduce recidivism of
   62  juveniles who would otherwise be recommitted to state
   63  supervision.
   64         16. Utilize alternative sentencing and dispute resolution
   65  when appropriate, particularly in civil disputes and minor
   66  criminal violations.
   67         17. Increase the state’s commitment to stringent
   68  enforcement of laws against drunken or drugged driving.
   69         18. Expand public awareness campaigns that will emphasize
   70  the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol or
   71  drugs.
   72         19. Promote efforts to encourage the use of personal safety
   73  restraint devices for all persons traveling in motor vehicles.
   74         20. Improve the enforcement of and compliance with safe
   75  highway speed limits.
   76         21. Provide effective and efficient driver licensing
   77  systems, including a reliable testing system designed to
   78  preclude unqualified drivers from receiving driver licenses.
   79         22. Require local governments, in cooperation with regional
   80  and state agencies, to prepare advance plans for the safe
   81  evacuation of coastal residents.
   82         23. Require local governments, in cooperation with regional
   83  and state agencies, to adopt plans and policies to protect
   84  public and private property and human lives from the effects of
   85  natural disasters.
   86         24.Require as a condition of participation in any program
   87  of refugee resettlement that any refugee to be resettled in the
   88  state receive a background investigation by the appropriate
   89  federal agency, including the Department of Homeland Security
   90  and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to ensure that the
   91  potential refugee is not a security threat before the refugee
   92  may be received into the state or receive benefits from any
   93  refugee resettlement program in the state. Such a background
   94  investigation must include verification from the person’s
   95  country of origin and residence in cooperation with the federal
   96  agency vetting the potential refugee.
   97         Section 2. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (6) of
   98  section 216.151, Florida Statutes, to read:
   99         216.151 Duties of the Executive Office of the Governor.—It
  100  shall be the duty of the Executive Office of the Governor to:
  101         (6) Consult with the Office of State-Federal Relations in
  102  Washington, D.C., under the Executive Office of the Governor, in
  103  order to:
  104         (e)Ensure that appropriate federal agencies shall take all
  105  actions necessary to see that any refugee to be resettled in the
  106  state receives a background investigation that ensures that the
  107  potential refugee is not a security threat before the refugee
  108  may be received into the state or receive benefits from any
  109  refugee resettlement program in the state. Such a background
  110  investigation must include verification from the person’s
  111  country of origin and residence in cooperation with the federal
  112  agency vetting the potential refugee.
  113  
  114  The express intent of the endeavors enumerated in this
  115  subsection shall be to secure a more equitable share of
  116  available federal revenues.
  117         Section 3. Section 402.86, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  118  read:
  119         402.86 Rulemaking authority for Refugee assistance program;
  120  screening requirements; rulemaking.—
  121         (1) The Department of Children and Families has the
  122  authority to administer the refugee assistance program in
  123  accordance with 45 C.F.R. parts 400 and 401. The department
  124  shall require, to the extent permitted under federal law, as a
  125  condition of the state’s participation in any program of refugee
  126  resettlement or assistance that any refugee to be resettled in
  127  the state receive a background investigation by the appropriate
  128  federal agency, including the Department of Homeland Security
  129  and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to ensure that the
  130  potential refugee is not a security threat before the refugee
  131  may be received into the state or receive benefits from any
  132  refugee resettlement or assistance program in the state. Such a
  133  background investigation must include verification from the
  134  person’s country of origin and residence in cooperation with the
  135  federal agency vetting the potential refugee.
  136         (2) The Department of Children and Families or a child
  137  placing or child-caring agency designated by the department may
  138  petition in circuit court to establish custody. Upon making a
  139  finding that a child is an Unaccompanied Refugee Minor as
  140  defined in 45 C.F.R. s. 400.111, the court may establish custody
  141  and placement of the child in the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor
  142  Program.
  143         (3)(2) The Department of Children and Families shall adopt
  144  any rules necessary for the implementation and administration of
  145  this section.
  146         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.