Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 140
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       13-00456B-19                                           2019140__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to specialty license plates; amending
    3         ss. 320.08056 and 320.08058, F.S.; directing the
    4         Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to
    5         develop a Gopher Tortoise license plate; establishing
    6         an annual use fee for the plate; providing for
    7         distribution and use of fees collected from the sale
    8         of the plate; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (ffff) is added to subsection (4) of
   13  section 320.08056, Florida Statutes, to read:
   14         320.08056 Specialty license plates.—
   15         (4) The following license plate annual use fees shall be
   16  collected for the appropriate specialty license plates:
   17         (ffff) Gopher Tortoise license plate, $25.
   18         Section 2. Subsection (84) is added to section 320.08058,
   19  Florida Statutes, to read:
   20         320.08058 Specialty license plates.—
   21         (84) GOPHER TORTOISE LICENSE PLATES.—
   22         (a) The department shall develop a Gopher Tortoise license
   23  plate as provided in s. 320.08053 and this section. The plate
   24  must bear the colors and design approved by the department. The
   25  word “Florida” must appear at the top of the plate, and the
   26  words “Protect the Gopher Tortoise” must appear at the bottom of
   27  the plate.
   28         (b) The annual use fees from the sale of the plate shall be
   29  distributed to Wildlands Conservation, Inc., a nonprofit
   30  corporation under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, to
   31  fund gopher tortoise and commensal species research, education,
   32  and conservation, as well as upland habitat protection,
   33  restoration, and management in this state. Up to 15 percent of
   34  the funds received by Wildlands Conservation, Inc., may be used
   35  for marketing of the plate and costs directly associated with
   36  the administration of the gopher tortoise protection program.
   37  Wildlands Conservation, Inc., shall use and distribute the funds
   38  to eligible Florida-based scientific, conservation, and
   39  educational organizations for gopher tortoise and upland habitat
   40  research, conservation, and management.
   41         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2019.