Florida Senate - 2017                      CS for CS for SB 1272
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Appropriations; and Regulated Industries;
       and Senators Brandes and Stargel
       
       
       
       
       576-03773-17                                          20171272c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to professional regulation; providing
    3         a short title; amending s. 455.02, F.S.; revising the
    4         length of time that an active duty member of the Armed
    5         Forces of the United States may remain in good
    6         standing with an administrative board or program under
    7         certain circumstances; requiring that a spouse or
    8         surviving spouse be kept in good standing and be
    9         exempt from licensure renewal provisions under certain
   10         circumstances; requiring, rather than authorizing, the
   11         Department of Business and Professional Regulation to
   12         issue a professional license, rather than a temporary
   13         license, to specified applicants; revising application
   14         requirements; requiring the department to waive the
   15         applicant’s initial licensure application fee;
   16         authorizing licensure renewal; amending s. 455.219,
   17         F.S.; providing for a fee waiver for active duty
   18         members of the Armed Forces, certain spouses or
   19         surviving spouses of an active duty member, and low
   20         income individuals; defining the term “low-income
   21         individual”; requiring an application for a fee waiver
   22         to be processed within a specified time; providing
   23         rulemaking authority; providing an appropriation;
   24         providing an effective date.
   25          
   26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Occupational
   29  Opportunity Act.”
   30         Section 2. Section 455.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   31  read:
   32         455.02 Licensure of members of the Armed Forces in good
   33  standing and their spouses or surviving spouses with
   34  administrative boards or programs.—
   35         (1) Any member of the Armed Forces of the United States now
   36  or hereafter on active duty who, at the time of becoming such a
   37  member, was in good standing with any of the boards or programs
   38  listed in s. 20.165 administrative board of the state and was
   39  entitled to practice or engage in his or her profession or
   40  vocation in the state shall be kept in good standing by the
   41  applicable such administrative board or program, without
   42  registering, paying dues or fees, or performing any other act on
   43  his or her part to be performed, as long as he or she is a
   44  member of the Armed Forces of the United States on active duty
   45  and for a period of 2 years 6 months after discharge from active
   46  duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, if he
   47  or she is not engaged in his or her licensed profession or
   48  vocation in the private sector for profit.
   49         (2) A spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United
   50  States who is married to a member during a period of active
   51  duty, or a surviving spouse of a member who at the time of death
   52  was serving on active duty, The boards listed in s. 20.165 shall
   53  adopt rules that exempt the spouse of a member of the Armed
   54  Forces of the United States who is in good standing with any of
   55  the boards or programs listed in s. 20.165 shall be kept in good
   56  standing by the applicable board or program as described in
   57  subsection (1) and shall be exempt from licensure renewal
   58  provisions, but only in cases of his or her absence from the
   59  state because of his or her spouse’s duties with the Armed
   60  Forces.
   61         (3)(a) The department shall may issue a temporary
   62  professional license to an applicant who is or was the spouse of
   63  an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States,
   64  or who is a spouse or surviving spouse of such member, upon
   65  application if the spouse applies to the department in a the
   66  format prescribed by the department. An application must include
   67  proof that:
   68         1. The applicant is or was an active duty member of the
   69  Armed Forces of the United States or is married to a member of
   70  the Armed Forces of the United States and was married to the
   71  member during any period of who is on active duty or was married
   72  to such a member who at the time of the member’s death was
   73  serving on active duty. An applicant who was an active duty
   74  member of the Armed Forces of the United States must have
   75  received an honorable discharge upon separation or discharge
   76  from the Armed Forces of the United States.
   77         2. The applicant holds a valid license for the profession
   78  issued by another state, the District of Columbia, any
   79  possession or territory of the United States, or any foreign
   80  jurisdiction.
   81         3. The applicant, when required by the specific practice
   82  act, has complied with insurance or bonding requirements The
   83  applicant’s spouse is assigned to a duty station in this state
   84  and that the applicant is also assigned to a duty station in
   85  this state pursuant to the member’s official active duty
   86  military orders.
   87         4.a. A complete set of the applicant’s fingerprints is
   88  submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement for a statewide
   89  criminal history check.
   90         b. The Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the
   91  fingerprints submitted pursuant to sub-subparagraph a. to the
   92  Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history
   93  check. The department shall, and the board may, review the
   94  results of the criminal history checks according to the level 2
   95  screening standards in s. 435.04 and determine whether the
   96  applicant meets the licensure requirements. The costs of
   97  fingerprint processing shall be borne by the applicant. If the
   98  applicant’s fingerprints are submitted through an authorized
   99  agency or vendor, the agency or vendor shall collect the
  100  required processing fees and remit the fees to the Department of
  101  Law Enforcement.
  102         (b) The department shall waive the applicant’s initial
  103  licensure application fee An application must be accompanied by
  104  an application fee prescribed by the department that is
  105  sufficient to cover the cost of issuance of the temporary
  106  license.
  107         (c) An applicant who is issued a license under this section
  108  may renew such license upon completion of the conditions for
  109  renewal required of licenseholders under the applicable practice
  110  act, including, without limitation, continuing education
  111  requirements. This paragraph does not limit waiver of initial
  112  licensure requirements under this subsection A temporary license
  113  expires 6 months after the date of issuance and is not
  114  renewable.
  115         Section 3. Subsection (7) is added to section 455.219,
  116  Florida Statutes, to read:
  117         455.219 Fees; receipts; disposition; periodic management
  118  reports.—
  119         (7)(a)The department, or a board thereunder, shall waive
  120  the initial licensure fee for a member of the Armed Forces of
  121  the United States who has served on active duty, the spouse of a
  122  member of the Armed Forces of the United States who was married
  123  to the member during a period of active duty, the surviving
  124  spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who
  125  at the time of death was serving on active duty, or a low-income
  126  individual upon application by the individual in a format
  127  prescribed by the department. The application format must
  128  include the applicant’s signature, under penalty of perjury, and
  129  supporting documentation as required by the department. For
  130  purposes of this subsection, the term “low-income individual”
  131  means a person whose household income, before taxes, is at or
  132  below 130 percent of the federal poverty guidelines prescribed
  133  for the family’s household size by the United States Department
  134  of Health and Human Services, proof of which may be shown
  135  through enrollment in a state or federal public assistance
  136  program that requires participants to be at or below 130 percent
  137  of the federal poverty guidelines to qualify.
  138         (b)The department, or a board thereunder, shall process an
  139  application for a fee waiver within 30 days after receiving it
  140  from the applicant.
  141         (c)The department shall adopt rules necessary to implement
  142  the provisions of this subsection.
  143         Section 4. For the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the nonrecurring
  144  sum of $31,000 from the Administrative Trust Fund is
  145  appropriated to the Department of Business and Professional
  146  Regulation for costs associated with technology infrastructure
  147  and licensing modifications needed for the purposes of
  148  implementing this act.
  149         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.