Florida Senate - 2018                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1234
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì697298gÎ697298                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/21/2018           .                                
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Baxley) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Campus Free
    6  Expression Act.”
    7         Section 2. Section 1004.097, Florida Statutes, is created
    8  to read:
    9         1004.097 Free expression on campus.—
   10         (1) DEFINITIONS.—
   11         (a) “Commercial speech” means speech where the individual
   12  is engaged in commerce, where the intended audience is
   13  commercial or actual or potential consumers, and where the
   14  content of the message is commercial.
   15         (b) “Free speech zone” means a designated area on a public
   16  institution of higher education’s campus which is designated for
   17  the purpose of engaging in expressive activities.
   18         (c) “Material and substantial disruption” means any conduct
   19  that intentionally and significantly hinders another person’s or
   20  group’s expressive rights. It does not include conduct that is
   21  protected under the First Amendment to the United States
   22  Constitution and Art. I of the State Constitution, including,
   23  but not limited to, lawful protests and counter-protests in the
   24  outdoor areas of campus or minor, brief, or fleeting nonviolent
   25  disruptions that are isolated or short in duration.
   26         (d) “Outdoor areas of campus” means generally accessible
   27  areas of the campus of a public institution of higher education
   28  where members of the campus community are commonly allowed,
   29  including grassy areas, walkways, or other similar common areas.
   30  The term does not include outdoor areas where access is
   31  restricted.
   32         (e) “Public institution of higher education” means any
   33  public technical center, state university, law school, medical
   34  school, dental school, or other Florida College System
   35  institution as defined in s. 1000.21.
   36         (2) RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH ACTIVITIES.—
   37         (a) Expressive activities protected under the First
   38  Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. I of the
   39  State Constitution include, but are not limited to, any lawful
   40  oral or written communication of ideas, including all forms of
   41  peaceful assembly, protests, and speeches; distributing
   42  literature; carrying signs; circulating petitions; and the
   43  recording and publication, including Internet publication, of
   44  video or audio recorded in outdoor areas of campus of public
   45  institutions of higher education. Expressive activities
   46  protected by this section do not include commercial speech.
   47         (b) A person who wishes to engage in an expressive activity
   48  in the outdoor areas of campus may do so freely, spontaneously,
   49  and contemporaneously as long as the person’s conduct is lawful
   50  and is not a material and substantial disruption of the
   51  functioning of the public institution of higher education or
   52  does not infringe upon the rights of other individuals or
   53  organizations to engage in expressive activities.
   54         (c) The outdoor areas of campus are considered traditional
   55  public forums for individuals, organizations, and guest
   56  speakers. A public institution of higher education may create
   57  and enforce restrictions that are reasonable and content-neutral
   58  on time, place, and manner of expression and that are narrowly
   59  tailored to a significant institutional interest. Restrictions
   60  must be clear, published, and provide for ample alternative
   61  means of expression.
   62         (d) A public institution of higher education may not
   63  designate any area of campus as a free speech zone or otherwise
   64  create policies restricting expressive activities to particular
   65  outdoor areas of campus, except as provided in paragraph (c).
   66         (e) Students, faculty, or staff of a public institution of
   67  higher education may not cause a material and substantial
   68  disruption of a previously scheduled or reserved activity on
   69  campus occurring at the same time.
   70         (3) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any person whose expressive rights are
   71  violated by an action prohibited under this section may bring an
   72  action in a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain
   73  declaratory and injunctive relief, reasonable court costs and
   74  attorneys’ fees.
   75         Section 3. Subsection (10) of section 1009.24, Florida
   76  Statutes, is amended to read:
   77         1009.24 State university student fees.—
   78         (10)(a) Each university board of trustees shall establish a
   79  student activity and service fee on the main campus of the
   80  university. The university board may also establish a student
   81  activity and service fee on any branch campus or center. Any
   82  subsequent increase in the activity and service fee must be
   83  recommended by an activity and service fee committee, at least
   84  one-half of whom are students appointed by the student body
   85  president. The remainder of the committee shall be appointed by
   86  the university president. A chairperson, appointed jointly by
   87  the university president and the student body president, shall
   88  vote only in the case of a tie. The recommendations of the
   89  committee shall take effect only after approval by the
   90  university president, after consultation with the student body
   91  president, with final approval by the university board of
   92  trustees. An increase in the activity and service fee may occur
   93  only once each fiscal year and must be implemented beginning
   94  with the fall term. The Board of Governors is responsible for
   95  adopting the regulations and timetables necessary to implement
   96  this fee.
   97         (b) The student activity and service fees shall be expended
   98  for lawful purposes to benefit the student body in general. This
   99  shall include, but shall not be limited to, student publications
  100  and grants to duly recognized student organizations, the
  101  membership of which is open to all students at the university
  102  without regard to race, sex, or religion. The fund may not
  103  benefit activities for which an admission fee is charged to
  104  students, except for student-government-association-sponsored
  105  concerts. The allocation and expenditure of the fund shall be
  106  determined by the student government association of the
  107  university, except that the president of the university may veto
  108  any line item or portion thereof within the budget when
  109  submitted by the student government association legislative
  110  body. The university president shall have 15 school days from
  111  the date of presentation of the budget to act on the allocation
  112  and expenditure recommendations, which shall be deemed approved
  113  if no action is taken within the 15 school days. If any line
  114  item or portion thereof within the budget is vetoed, the student
  115  government association legislative body shall within 15 school
  116  days make new budget recommendations for expenditure of the
  117  vetoed portion of the fund. If the university president vetoes
  118  any line item or portion thereof within the new budget
  119  revisions, the university president may reallocate by line item
  120  that vetoed portion to bond obligations guaranteed by activity
  121  and service fees. Unexpended funds and undisbursed funds
  122  remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall be carried over and
  123  remain in the student activity and service fund and be available
  124  for allocation and expenditure during the next fiscal year.
  125         (c) To preserve viewpoint neutrality in the allocation of
  126  activity and service fees, any recognized student organization
  127  that submits an activity and service fee funding request to the
  128  student government association that disburses such funds shall
  129  be provided a written justification for the amount of funds
  130  awarded to the requesting organization.
  131  
  132  Each student government association shall maintain on its
  133  website an organized record of funding requests and awards. The
  134  record shall contain the name of each organization that
  135  requested funds, the amount the organization requested, the
  136  amount the organization received, and the written explanation
  137  that was provided pursuant to paragraph (c) to the requesting
  138  organization. The record shall be displayed in an easy-to-find
  139  place on the student government association’s website.
  140         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
  141  
  142  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  143  And the title is amended as follows:
  144         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  145  and insert:
  146                        A bill to be entitled                      
  147         An act relating to free expression on campus;
  148         providing a short title; creating s. 1004.097, F.S.;
  149         defining terms; providing applicability; authorizing a
  150         public institution of higher education to create and
  151         enforce certain restrictions relating to expressive
  152         activities on campus; providing requirements for such
  153         restrictions; prohibiting the students, faculty, and
  154         staff of a public institution of higher education from
  155         causing certain disruptions; providing a cause of
  156         action; amending s. 1009.24, F.S.; providing
  157         disclosure requirements when allocating activity and
  158         service fees; requiring student government
  159         associations to maintain and display certain records
  160         in their websites; providing requirements for such
  161         records; providing an effective date.