Florida Senate - 2018 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for SB 1234 Ì697298gÎ697298 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 02/21/2018 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 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.